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WILLIAM r. BARTLETT, 

Hillf. - Gi ii. mi. I Hvt. Mni. ■ Gfii. U.8. Vols. 



THE 



Fifty-Seventh Regiment 



MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS 



WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 



BY {/ 

Captain JOHN ANDERSON, 

U.S. Army. 




Boston, Mass. : 

E. B. Stillings & Co., Printers, 55 Sudbury Street. 

1896. 



TO THOSE 

BRAVE OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN 

OK THE 

FIFTY-SEVENTH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS 

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN DEFENCE OF OUR 

COUNTRY THROUGH THE BLOODY 

STRUGGLE OF '61 TO '65 

THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE. 



To many, no doubt, it appears easy to write a regimental 
history, but experience proves it to be a task most difficult to 
accomplish. 

For nearly two years we have worked earnestly and 
faithfully to complete this task for the Fifty-Seventh Massachu- 
setts in the great War of the Rebellion. 

We have met with many affectionate encouragements, but 
we have also met with very many positive discouragements, 
chiefly in the matter of obtaining information in relation to 
those men who had been left by official records as ' ' missing 
in action." The story we would tell of them will remain untold 
until the veil which hides our mortal vision is removed and the 
great scroll kept by the recording angel unrolled to those who 
are mustered into that grand army beyond the river. 

There is a sad pathos covering the word "unknown," yet 
it speaks in tones of silent eloquence which will ever echo a 
tender inquiry that can never be answered save in imagination ; 
yet such names come to sanctify our memory, as their lives 
were given to our country, though their deeds go unrecorded. 
We wish to express our appreciation of the warm sympathy 
that has been given us by the widow of our beloved commander. 



Her modesl words have been an inspiration as we have labored 
on this work from day t<> day. 

It lias not been our purpose to trace each individual 
history, — that would have been impossible; but we have been 
careful to write only what is warranted by facts and official 
records, and we hope our comrades will find pleasure in the 
reading, though no doubt they will be reminded of many things 
not mentioned that should have been noticed, and many that 
might have been better written; but the story of the Fifty- 
Seventh is told t<> the best of our ability, and we give it to the 
leader, indulging the hope that it may, in some measure, 
lead to a higher reverence for our American institutions, and a 
greater love for our Hag and common, reunited country. If 
these objects are attained we shall feel that we have not written 
in vain, but have been amply repaid for our labor; and trust 
these pages will carry some lingering influence, however small, 
which will reach down to coming ages and live after the vet- 
erans of tile Civil War have all passed away and been laid to 

real 

■ My all their Country's wishes bless'd ! " 

I'm A.UTH0R. 

! 111 Bivoi \< . Bklchebtown, Mass., 
.tun.- :uli. 1896 



NTRODUCTORY. 



At a reunion of the old Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Infan- 
try, which was held in the city of Worcester, Mass., June 19th, 
1894, the subject of a regimental history was favorably considered 
by all present and the matter placed in the hands of a committee 
as follows : — 

Capt. John Anderson, U.S. Army. 
Lieut. George E. Priest of Watertown, Mass. 
Brevet-Capt. Charles II. Pinkham of Worcester, Mass. 
Chaplain A. II. Dashiell, D.D., of Lakewood, N.J. 
Comrade J. Brainerd Hall of Worcester, Mass. 

The committee gave the preparation of the history into the 
hands of Capt. John Anderson, who accepted the task as a matter 
of love and duty, that the record of this regiment may be known 
to the generations that follow us. 

In attempting to write a correct history of the Fifty-Seventh 
Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers in the great War of the 
Rebellion, we fully realize the importance of the work before us 
and of the difficulty presented at each step in obtaining accurate 
data of all the thrilling events in which the old Fifty-Seventh was 
engaged. Special care will be observed that nothing is written which 
is not absolutely true, although different persons may see the same, 
but from different standpoints their narrations may differ and yet 
all be correct. In whatever effort we may put forth we are con- 
stantly reminded of our inability to do the subject justice ; and re- 
gret that some one who is better able to wield " the pen of a ready 
writer " has not undertaken it ; but, the burden having been placed 
upon us by our comrades, we shall endeavor to employ the little 



INTRODUCTORY, 



talent we have towards a faithful and loyal performance of this 
duty. 

After a lapse of thirty years it is extremely difficult to call 
t<> mind much that should be written and placed upon the pages of 
history of thai gallant old regiment in whose record every member 
has reason for feeling :i just pride. Many noble and brave deeds 
will never come to light ; they fill numberless '• unknown " graves, 
the unwritten history being much more than will be found written 
upon these pages. The true history lias been indelibly stamped 
upon bloody fields of battle, which are inscribed in our country's 
history, never to be erased. While a Large majority of the actors 
in these tragic Bcenes have marched on to that silent, unseen land, 
t'roiii whence their voices cannot he heard, the remaining minority 
tenderly cling to the sacred memories of the long past and feel 
that something should lie recorded that can be handed down to the 
advancing line- of posterity as a valuable Lesson in patriotism ever 
to lie remembered. 

This history appears among the Last of regimental histories in 
mil State, and it is hoped may find an honored place among those 
already written, its gallant record entitling it to such a place far 
above any ability we posse-- to place it there by the eloquence of 

OUr pen. 

In the preparation of this work we have to acknowledge our 
greal indebtedness to Kev. A. LI. Dashiell, D.D., formerly Chap- 
lain of the regiment, and Comrade .1. Brainerd Hall of Worcester, 
Ma--. , formerly a member of Company B, both of whom have taken 
a great interest in il and have presented us with considerable 
manuscript prepared by themselves with great care, and which has 
been of great Bervice i" us. Al-o many letters written at thetime 
the e\ .hi- were t ranspii ing. 

< >ther comrades have contributed from the -tore of their mem- 
ories, such in d< its ae came under their personal observation ; but 



INTRODUCTORY. IX 

apparently from a feeling of delicacy to speak of their own deeds, 
many have refrained from speaking of themselves, thereby depriv- 
ing us of much matter that would, no doubt, be of interest to the 
reader. The lack of it is not the fault of the historian, who has 
labored hard to make this the history of the whole regiment and 
not of a part. It is our earnest endeavor to give place and do 
justice to every one, without regard to rank, who served with honor 
in the regiment. 

We beg the indulgence of our pride in connection with an 
organization whose gallantly stands upon the pages of the nation's 
history as sustaining one of the heaviest losses in killed and 
wounded of any regiment in the service of the country during the, 
War of the Rebellion, although its length of active service was but 
little over one year. We also feel proud in the record of our gal- 
lant Colonel (afterwards General) William F. Bartlett, who never 
failed to lead his command and whose many wounds were evidence 
of his heroism. The confidence inspired by his example was al- 
ways felt along the whole line, as his clarion voice rang out, above 
the din of battle, kl Forward Fifty-Seventh." Even if he could 
not have been heard, we knew his command was always "For- 
ward," often preceded by " Fix Bayonets " or " Double Quick." 
The prompt execution of his commands he fully relied upon, and 
never in vain. 

War in defence of one's country calls out all that is grand 
and noble in a man's character or exposes those mean traits of 
selfishness and cowardice which often lie hidden from public view. 
Men become heroes without realizing it and find, upon trial, those 
qualities which they never before dreamed of possessing. 

It often requires some such emergency to thoroughly arouse 
those dormant faculties and guide them with judgment and discre- 
tion. In the course of our war, of which we are writing, there 
were thousands of such men and boys ; they were found in nearly 



X INTRODUCTORT. 

every organization. We love and reverence the institutions of our 
country. In its history we are proud. By the names of patriots 
who have died tor it we arc honored, and in its Sag we behold the 
>tairy emblem of our nationality under which we claim protection 
for ourselves, our homes and our families. When this is assailed, 
it calls out, not the brutal nature, but tin' highest and noblest 
<|iialities of the citizen in defence of what he believes to be right 
ami just, and he is willing to undergo suffering and privation, to 
face danger ami even to risk his life in such a cause, witharealiz- 
ing sense that, with the destruction of an organic form of govern- 
ment, based upon just laws and institutions for the protection, 
welfare and happiness of the people, the intellectual, moral and 
religious conditions of society suffer in like proportion. To the 
law-abiding citizen, therefore, the country is the very foundation 
upon which he builds all he hopes for in this life, both for himself 
and children. In defending it, he is defending his own individual 
interests ami leaving an inheritance of far more value than wealth. 

The pages of this work are submitted to our comrades whose 
friendship we have found true in the past and feel safe to rely upon 
in the future. To those, if any there may lie. who feel inclined 
to criticize, we have only to ask — •• Why did you not undertake 
it yourself?" The field has been open for many years. That the 
work mighl be done better there is no doubt, but that it is done :it 
all should be :i matter to !»• treated with charitable indulgence. 

Whatever faults are found to exist we have tried to push them 

over, so thai tiny may lean towards l « virtue's side." 

No malice has entered into the composition, but a feeling in- 
spired b\ "fraternity, loyalty and charity." That it may be re- 
ed in the same spiril is the earnesl wish and prayer of the 

author. 

J. A. 

till BlVOl \< . I '.i i I in i; n.u \. MA88., 

\|;n l-i . ' 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Organization — Camp Life at Worcester — Roster of Officers. 

CHAPTER II. 
Off for the War — Incidents ex route and on the March. 

CHAPTER III. 
Battle of the Wilderness — Crossing the Rapidan and Move- 
ments OF THE ABMY OF THE POTOMAC. 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Wilderness (Continued) — Letters and Incidents — List of 
Casualties — Movements of the Army of Northern Virginia. 

CHAPTER V. 
spottsylvaxia court house — position of the opposing armies by 
Corps. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Movement to the North Anna River — Crossing and Battle. 

CHAPTER VII. 
March to Cold Harbor to interpose between Lee and Richmond — 
Battle of Cold Harbor — Crossing of James River. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
March upon Petersburg — Description of Confederate Fortifica- 
tions — Battle ok 17th of June, 1864 — List of Casualties. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Petersburg Mine (Crater) —Orders for the Assault — Report of 
Court of Inquiry— Papers from Col. T. W. Clarke and Gen. 
J. W. Barnes — Comments on the Battle. 



XII CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 
Weldon Railroad — Strength of the opposing Armies — Another 

MOVEMENT l'> TURN GENERA] Lee'S RIGHT FLANK— LlST OF CaS- 
i ULTIES. 

CHAPTER XI. 
Poplar Grove Church — Life in the Trenches — Condition of the 
i wo Armies. 

CHATTER XII. 
Hatcher's Run — Position SlND Strength of ihk two Aminos. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Battle oi Fort Stedman — Location of Forts — Reports and Cor- 

RESPONDENCE — LlST OF CASUALTIES. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Bearing mh End Capture of Petersburg — Surrendeb <>k the 
\nn •>! Northern VmGiNiA — Incidents and Narratives — 
Transfeb oi iiii Ninth Army Corps to Tennallytown. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Coming Home Grand Review of the Army ok the Potomac — 
Dissoli pion "i hie Ninth Army Corps- Losses during the 
War. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Home Muster oui oi the "> 7 1 1 1 — Statistical Record of Prisoners 
\m> Prison Losses of Federals ind Confederates during the 
War 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Regimen iai Rei nions. 

<ii \iti.i; will. 

i\ Memoriam Officers lnd Enlisted Men who have died since 
nn W \i:. 

ill U'TKK XIX. 

Stragglkrg i.i i ii i ..i Surg. \v. y. Whiti Incidents Corre- 

91'ON DKNC1 in RELATION ro nil ROSTER. 

ROSTER. 



LIST OF PORTRAITS. 



Gen. William F. Bartlett 

Alfred H. Dashiell 

George E. Priest 

Henry C. Ward 

John Anderson 

Samuel Souther 

Dr. William T. Souther 

J. EL Casey 

C. F. Paddock 

Alfred 0. Hitchcock 

Julius M. Tucker . 

George Edward Barton 
Leopold Karpeles 



1 



Charles L. Chandler 

Albert Doty ] 

John W. Sanderson [. 
Edwin I. Coe 
John H. Cook 



John L. Goodwin 

Albert Prescott 

Edson T. Dresser "] 
George H. Howe 
Levi Lawrence 
Joseph W. Gird 

G. W. Tourtellot 

N. B. McLaughlen . 

William Shaftoe 

Charles H. Pinkham 



Frontispiece, 
opposite page 8 

16 
38 

+8 

54 

80 
94 

102 
105 

132 

156 
162 
166 

190 

224 

256 
272 
288 



\i\ 



'LIST (U PORTRAITS. 



\. w. Cooke 
Gkorgi E White 
Charles II. Barnes 
Wii.i.ahd F. Barnes 
Rodneys D. Loomis 
James Sullivan 
W. II Whipple 
Joseph \v. Hill 



opposite page 298 

" 304 

" 320 

" 328 

•• 336 

•■ 342 

" 352 

• 368 



Mosl ui the plates for portraits were made by The Suffolk Engrav- 
ing Companj of Boston. Some wen- furnished by individuals, which 
explains whj all do no1 appear the same. Those taken from old and 
faded photographs could no1 be made to show as well as those taken at 
a Late date. Much time and labor has been expended to produce the best 
result- attainable, and it Is hoped the work will prove satisfactory. 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 



THE 



Fifty-Seventh Regiment 

OF 

MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS 

IN THE 

WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



CHAPTER I. 




ORGANIZATION. 

HE Fifty-Seventh Regiment was raised and organized 
by Col. William F. Bartlett (afterwards Brigadier- 
General U.S. Volunteers), in the fall of 1863 and 
winter of 1864, under the call of President Lincoln 
for three hundred thousand volunteers. For over two 
long years the war had raged with ever increasing fury. It 
had been traced in sorrow over the length and breadth of 
our land ; hardly a family but mourned the loss of some relative 
or friend who had fallen in battle or was dying of slow starvation 
in a Southern prison. Every town and city had passed under the 
rod of aftiictiou and had drunk from the bitter dregs of cruel, 
relentless war; and still the dark, gathering clouds predicted 
that the storm was not yet over, but was again to burst out in a 
grander and even more destructive form. It seemed that the 
strength of the nation was well-nigh exhausted ; even some of the 
ablest and most patriotic men began to doubt and shrink in 
horror from the further effusion of blood, but still the mighty 
waves of loyalty continued rolling on to the front, only to be 



2. FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

dashed against the impetuous tide of Southern valor, often being 
broken and beaten back, yet gaining stronger impetus from the 
patriotic North for a renewal of the conflict. 

During the year 1863 our arms had gained more victories 
than suffered defeats, yet the times were dark and gloomy. 
Our currency had depreciated in value to an alarming extent, and 
the cost of food and raiment had advanced to fabulous prices ; 
while all felt that the struggle was not yet over, but that one 
grand and mighty blow remained to be struck before we could 
look for the dawn of a permanent and honorable peace. 

The Confederate armies were still numerous ; strong, efficient 
and skilfully commanded. We must give them credit for a self- 
sacrificing devotion to their cause and a bravery, even to despera- 
tion, thai was the admiration of the whole world. They battled, 
as mosl of them believed, in defense of their country, their 
property and their homes, yet history records that they fought and 
died for the institution of slavery. 

In our own midst we had the "Peace Party," "Peace at any 
Price," •• Butternuts " and " Knights of the Golden Circle" in the 
Centra] Western States, the turbulent Indians of the west and 
northwest, with the Province of Canada along our whole northern 
border which furnished an asylum for all the malcontents and 
enemies of our government, affording them means and protecting 
ih, •in in making raids for the purpose of robbery upon our de- 
fenseless northern cities. Added to all this we had one of the 
most powerful nations of the world. Great Britain, not only Sym- 
pathizing with the Confederacy, bul actually building ships of 
w:ir for the destruction of our commerce and rendering all the 
moral and physical support to the Confederacy, as far as could 

be done without an actual war with the tinted States; while the 

powerful country of France was endeavoring to obtain a per- 
manent foothold in Mexico, upon our southern border, with a 
view, under the ambition of Napoleon III., of establishing a vast 
empire upon this continent, which should overshadow our Repub- 
lic and finally overthrow our government. 

All these elements entered into the political and military 

conditions of our affairs in L868 and 1864. 



ORGANIZATION. d 

In view of all this can any one discern the great advantage it 
is claimed that the North possessed over the South? One was the 
attacking party while the other stood upon the defensive, offensive ; 
operating in their own country where they had the full sympathy 
of the people in aiding them to their utmost ability by furnishing 
supplies and the needed information of the movements of the Fed- 
eral armies, an important factor in war, which the North did not 
possess. That we had a preponderance of numbers is a fact which 
no one will presume to deny, but the many advantages possessed 
by the other side were sufficient to offset all this. This is a matter 
often overlooked by writers who treat upon the history of the war. 
It has been so often said : "■ overpowered by sheer force of num- 
bers." 

Any one familiar with military science knows that military 
strength is not estimated by numbers but in the character of 
the men and the way they are handled. An unskilful com- 
mander would doubtless suffer defeat with any army, while the 
most skilful general that ever lived could not expect to win vic- 
tories with an army of cowards, however great it might be. The 
greater the number the more sure of disaster when opposed by 
brave men. 

The coming year was to witness a life and death struggle. 
The immortal Lincoln, never wavering, again called upon the loyal 
citizens for three hundred thousand volunteers, and trusted, not in 
vain, that American patriotism was not yet dead, but would respond 
to the call. 

Those who cast their fortunes with the Fifty- Seventh at that 
time realized the dangers they were to encounter, but placed their 
sense of duty and love of country above all personal considera- 
tions. In response to the President's call they left home and 
friends, joined the grand army and marched forward to that famil- 
iar old refrain which every old soldier so well remembers : " We're 
coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand strong. " 

The Fifty-Seventh was one of the four veteran regiments pro- 
jected by Governor Andrew and so called because they were 
largely composed of those who had seen previous service. Very 
nearlv all the officers had seen active service in some other organi- 



1 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

zation and had made good records, the evidence of which was one 
of the requirements of His Excellency the Governor, before 
becoming the happy possessor of a commission. 

The regiment was largely recruited in Worcester, Hampden 
and Berkshire counties, the former furnishing by far the most 
men. In the fall of 1863 and early in 1864 William Francis Bart- 
lett. formerly Colonel of the Forty-Ninth Massachusetts, was given 
command of the regiment. Temporary barracks were constructed 
aboul <>ne half mile south of the Boston & Albany Railroad and 
near the Norwich Railroad, about one and a half miles from the 
city of Worcester. 

The camp was beautifully located on high, rolling ground 
where there was ample space for drills and parades, and desig- 
nated as '« Camp John E. Wool." 

The first company to complete its complement and go into 
camp was Company A, commanded by Capt. John W. Sanderson, 
the other officers being 1st Lieut. Samuel M. Bowman and 
I'd Lieut. Edwin 1. Coe. It was mustered into the service of 
the United States Jan. 4th, 1864. Several other companies soon 
tilled up their ranks and were mustered in the following 
order — B, II. E, 1». L. L ('• and K. the last named being iims- 
tered April • '>. with only on.- officer. 

The recruiting continued until April 17th. when the regimenl 
gradually attained its full strength. The Roster of Commissioned 

Officers al that time stood as follows: — 
FIELD AND STAFF. 

Col. William F. Bartletl of Boston. 

I. inn. -Col. Edward P. Hollister of Pittsfleld. 

Maj. James W. <'u^hiiiL. v of Roxbury. 

Surgeon Whitman v. White of Stockbridge. 

isst. Surgeon Charles I'.. Heath of Monterey. 

( haplain Alfred II. Dashiell, Jr , of Stockbridge. 

1st Lieut. George E. Priesl [Quartermaster of Watertown. 

i>i Lieut. George E. Barton Acting Adjutant of Worcester. 

Company a. 

Capt. John W. Sanderson of Westborough. 
i>i Lieut. Samuel m. Bowman <>r Clinton. 
2d Lieut. Edwin I. <'<><■ of Worcester. 



ORGANIZATION . •' 

Company B 
Capt. Joseph W. Gird of Worcester. 
1st Lieut. E. Dexter Cheney of Worcester. 
2d Lieut. George S. Greene of Springfield. 

Company C. 
Capt Charles D Hollis of Lynn. 
1st Lieut. George E. Barton of Worcester. 
2d Lieut Charles H. Royce of Pittsfield. 

Company D. 
Capt. Edson T. Dresser of Stockbridge. 
1st Lieut. Edward S. Dewey of Greenfield 
2d Lieut. James Peacock of Worcester. 

Company E. 
Capt George H. Howe of Monson. 
1st Lieut. John H. Cook of Northampton. 
2d Lieut. John Anderson of Holland. 

Company F. 
Capt. Levi Lawrence of Fitchburg. 
1st Lieut. Charles Barker of Fitchburg. 
2d Lieut. Alfred Hitchcock of Fitchburg. 

Company G. 
Capt. James Doherty of Boston. 
1st Lieut. Henry C. Ward of Worcester. 
•2d Lieut. Henry B Fiske of Springfield. 

Company H. 
(apt. Julius M. Tucker of Worcester. 
1st Lieut. John L. Goodwin of Worcester. 
2d Lieut. James W Kennay of Boston. 

Company I. 
Capt. Albert Prescott of Charlestown. 
1st Lieut. Albert W. Cook of Milford. 
2d Lieut. John Reade of Milford 

Company K. , 

No Captain designated 

1st Lieut. Edwin Kimball, who declined commission and never 

served with the regiment. 
2d Lieut James M. Childs of Worcester. 



WFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 
NON-( < >M. MISSIONED STAFF. 

Sergt.-Maj. Albert M. Mordockof West Boylston. 
Commissary Sergt. David F. Lawry of Worcester. 
Q.-.M Sergl James A. Robbing of Watertown. 
Hospital Steward Henry (J. Prout of Great Barrington. 

Company K was the last company to be mustered into the 
United States service and was to be armed with the Spencer 
repeating rifle and employed as sharpshooters. It had no captain 
in command prior to leaving the State, hut was temporarily under 
command of 1st Lieut. John H. Cook of Co. E. with 2d 1 ieut 
•I. M. Childs. 

Tla- rifles could not be obtained at that time, hence Lieu- 
tenant Cook was left behind to obtain them, but was unable to 
secure them in time to reach the regiment until June 17th. In the 
meantime the company was armed with the old Springfield rifle. 

These were busy and exciting times never to be forgotten. 
The various officers detailed to recruit the companies reported for 
duty with their squads of recruits. The companies tilled their 
complement and were ready to he mustered in. and the work of 
converting the raw material into well drilled and disciplined 
soldiers began. 

The city of Worcester then, as in the days of i 776. as it' 
always has been and is DO w, was intensely loyal, and senl some of 
ber bes1 and OODlesI sous into the ranks as recruits and always 

""' k :I dee P toteresl in the welfare of ihe regiment. The ladies 
frequently visited the cam,, bringing dainty edibles to help nil u1 
the army rations, the private soldier receiving such attentions more 
particularly than the officer. Wherever the army blue was seen, 
either on the streets or in private houses, it was respected. A. a 
matter of course, it followed that weal] became very much attached 
to the city. The attachment became so strong that many, yes, 

ver y " ,:| ". V of the " boys" wenl ttle escapades after nightfall] 

crossing the guard line withoul permission, and report, which was 

,:,ll .v believed, ha, I it. that they »,,„ ,, 8ome friend8j ,„. 

Perhaps, Bweethearts. It was even rumored thai some of the 
>"""-" offlcera indulged in such prank., hut. as uone of the, 



ORGANIZATION. 



were caught, there seemed to be a lack of evidence sufficient to 
make history. However that may be, we have all grown older and 
gray since those times and, as a matter of duty which youth owes 
to age, have repented of these follies, although we feel that there 
were some extenuating circumstances when we remember the 
veteran " Blue Beard," who was usually left in command when 
the day's exercises were over. To ask permission of him to visit 
the city was like " bearding the lion in his den." Leaving his 
presence with the invariable refusal, one's disappointment found 
some comfort in the thought that he would make quick work with 
the rebel hosts if he should ever be turned loose in their midst 
while in such a savage disposition. It was also an assurance that 
he would do all the fighting for the whole regiment. This gave a 
feeling of security which was carried along to the front. If any 
reached the city after that they were well cared for and returned 
to camp in safety before morning, and, in spite of all, made brave 
soldiers when the shock of battle came. 

With all the pleasant memories we cherish of Worcester it is 
not strange that we still turn towards it as the most fitting place 
for the regimental reunions. 

The barracks were temporary buildings erected of rough 
pine, with no limit as to ventilation ; no beds. The men slept by 
twos and threes, or in any other way most convenient for them, 
upon hard board platforms, which grew harder and harder through 
the cold winter nights. When aching bones ou one side called 
for a change of position all had to turn together. This, to many, 
was the first taste of soldier life, but it was one of incomparable 
luxury to that which was in store. 

Men were detailed for cooks, often without any previous 
knowledge of this art, and no one seemed to know how to econo- 
mize the government ration, but, at that time, the necessity for it 
was not as apparent as it became later. 

The quartermaster's department was established, under the 
direction of Lieut. George E. Priest, with the arrival of the first 
detachment of recruits, and commenced the issue of clothing and 
rations. Any one who ever filled the position of quartermaster 
knows that it is one not only requiring ability but more patience 



8 i li 1Y--I \ I.N 111 REGIMENT MASS VOLUNTEERS. 

than was ever credited to Job of olden times, yet the quarter- 
master of the Fifty-Seventh had sufficient to sustain him through 
all his trials and was always found pleasant, affable, and tireless 
in his efforts to make every one comfortable with the limited 
means at his disposal. Be it said of him that he persevered even 
unto the end and then found his reward, not in worldly goods, bu1 
in the sincere love of all his comrades. 

The duty roster was not very arduous. Reveille soon after 
daylight, when every man had to form in line and answer as his 
name was called, then hunks and bedding had to be put in order. 
This was followed by the breakfast call. Soon after that came 
sick call and then cleaning up the quarters and grounds and cutting 
wood for the day. Next was guard mounting; a certain number 
of men being detailed from each company in proportion to the 
number reported for duty, when the several details would be 
formed on the parade ground by the sergeant-major and reported 
to the adjutant who verified the number of men and assigned the 
different non-commissioned officers to their places with the guard. 
A lieutenant was detailed for officer of the guard, whose duty was 
to inspect it carefully and then march it to the guardhouse where 
it was divided into three reliefs, with one non-commissioned 
officer, usually a corporal, to each. The old guard was then 
relieved and marched off to their quarters. The guard remained 
on duty twenty-four hours, each relief standing post two hours. 
which gave them two hours on duty and four off, night-time in- 
cluded. The officer of the guard was held responsible for the 
proper instruction of his sentinel^ and had to visit them while on 
posl to Bee thai they were properly performing their duty. This 
officer ha<l to remain with his guard during the twenty-four hours ; 
another officer, usually a captain, was detailed as officer of the 

day. Il was his duty to inspect the guard as often as he mighl 

deem necessary during the day and nighl and to have charge of 
the general good order and cleanliness of the camp. 

Alter guard inting there WOUld be drill, if the weather 

permitted, of two hour-. At precisely twelve noon came dinner 
call. Mosl of t he afternoon was devoted to some kind of practical 
or theoretical instruction, as the condition of the weather would 



ALFRED H. DASHIELL, 



Chaplain 57th Mass. 



ORGANIZATION. 



permit. This was followed in pleasant weather by a dress parade 
under the supervision of the regimental commander, which termi- 
nated all the duties of the day, except guard duty. Supper 
followed directly after parade, and at nine o'clock tattoo, when the 
roll was again called and the men supposed to go to bed. " Taps " 
came one half hour later when all lights had to be extinguished 
and the men were supposed to wrap themselves in their blankets 
and quietly fall asleep. The latter supposition is not beyond 
question, but the burden of this offense was in being caught. 

Thus the months while awaiting marching orders passed 
rapidly and profitably to both officers and men. There was very 
little friction ; every one took hold with zeal to learn the duties of 
a soldier. 

The officers became acquainted with each other and with their 
own men and the men not only learned the manual of arms, but 
imbibed the spirit of loyalty to duty and obedience to orders, 
which they carried with them into the field. 

Under the guidance of Colonel Bartlett all were drawn into 
closer relations of fellowship which led to that esprit de corps, 
which existed (luring the war and has a firmer hold upon our 
hearts now. A lack of this feeling will take the very life out of 
any organization. 

There were many manifestations of attachment by the men to 
their officers and numerous presentations of side arms made. The 
camp was frequently enlivened through the winter by these cere- 
monials in which the officers were honored and mutual feelings of 
confidence established. 

On the 28th of March Colonel Bartlett was presented with a 
sword by his fellow citizens of Winthrop in the presence of 
Governor Andrew and staff, in the town hall of Winthrop, where 
Mr. Emerson made the presentation speech, in which the previous 
career of Colonel Bartlett was very justly eulogized, and the 
Governor characterized him as one of "the most conspicuous 
soldiers of New England." 

The first public appearance of the Fifty-Seventh as an organi- 
zation was on Monday, Feb. 1st, 1864, when five companies, 
under command of Lieut.-Col. E. P. Hollister, marched to the 



10 llFTY-SKYKXTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 

city of Worcester where it formed part of the escort at the public 
reception of the re-enlisted members of the 21st Massachusetts 
who had returned from the seat of war on veteran furlough. 

February 20th seven companies of the Fifty-Seventh, under 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ilollister, joined the citizens of 
Worcester as an escort at the public reception tendered the re- 
enlisted men of the 25th Massachusetts, who had also returned 
on veteran furlough. 

February 16th showed seven hundred men in camp and the 
morning report of March 2d eight hundred and twenty-eight 
present. 

On the 17th of March, 1864, Colonel Bartlett formed the line 
of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts for the first time. Thursday, 
April 7th. 1864, was a memorable day in the histoiy of the regi- 
ment. Under command of Colonel Bartlett it marched in full 
uniform to the common in the city of Worcester for dress parade, 
after which a committee of ladies of the city presented a flag. It 
was :i beautiful specimen of the National colors and was received 
by Colonel Bartlett in behalf of the regiment from the hands of 
Mis- Frances M. Lincoln, daughter of Hon. 1). Waldo Lincoln, who 
was then Mayor of Worcester. The ceremony was a very impres- 
sive e. The day was lovely, the air soft and balmy, the snow 

had mostly disappeared and the common presented a fresh, green 
appearance, as warmed by the bright April sun. The buddiug 
tree- and opening plants seemed to speak of a new birth ami a 
new life through the evolutionary process of nature, and amid 
Buch scenes ;i regimenl of young soldiers was being decorated for 
the purpose of war. a large concourse of citizens had assembled 

to witnes> the parade. The flag presentation was an impromptu 
affair ami wholly unexpected. It had been reserved for some 

future occasion, bul the day being so bright, it was decided, a- 
the regimenl was seen marching in. to present the flag then and 

there. No speeches had been prepared on either side; the affair 
ng wholly informal was all the more appreciated. Miss 
Lincoln was tall, with rather a Blender figure. Stepping grace- 
fully forward from :i group of Ladies and gentlemen, among whom 
was her father, -he passed the flag into the hands of Colonel 



ORGANIZATION. 11 

Bartlett with a few words that could not be heard in the line. 
As she did so, the flag gently unfolded and gracefully floated out 
upon the evening breeze and was received by the regiment with 
hearty cheers. 

Miss Lincoln says of the affair that she cannot remember 
just what she said at the time, but that she presented the flag in 
the name of the ladies of Worcester, and that she was no more 
embarrassed than Colonel Bartlett. She is pleased to add: "I 
was very proud of being allowed to do so much for the old Fifty- 
Seventh ; the honor to me was very great." We often find an 
inspiring eloquence in deeds more enduring than in words. It 
was so here. There seemed to be something in the occasion that 
stirred the hearts of all who stood in that long line of army blue, 
and a new charm was added to that dear old flag. Even the 
smiles of nature seemed in harmony to add a higher sense of 
duty towards it and a greater love for it. The oath of enlistment 
encircles one with a solemn obligation to serve his country 
" honestly and faithfully." This ceremony seemed to consecrate 
that obligation and raise it into a purer atmosphere of devotion to 
the flag, to follow it manfully and bravely, to uphold it in the 
fierce conflict of battle and even to die for it. It appeared not 
only as the emblem of our common country, but as another link 
binding us to friends who took such a deep interest in the welfare 
of those who were going forth to do battle for the preservation 
and honor of the nation, and another tie binding our hearts to 
the fair ladies and loyal city of Worcester. If Miss Lincoln felt 
it an honor to present the flag, the regiment appreciated the 
honor it received at her hands and defended it upon many bloody 
fields. 

On Thursday, April 14th, the regiment was honored by a visit 
from His Excellency, Gov. John A. Andrew, accompanied by his 
Staff. The line was formed at eleven o'clock a.m., and after 
going through various evolutions and passing in review, it formed 
in a hollow square, when the State and National flags were pre- 
sented by His Excellency who made an eloquent and patriotic 
address, which is given here in full, as well worthy the space 
accorded it : — 



12 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 

"Colonel Bartlett, Massachusetts commits today to the 
hands of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment of Infantry Volunteers, the 
flag of the United States and the State colors of the Common- 
wealth, to be borne hereafter by your command, on those fields 
where you shall conduct them, to carry on the struggle for the 
maintenance of government and the perpetuation of the rightsand 
liberties of the people. From the rich and rural heart of Massa- 
chusetts, whence have marched already many of her sons during 
the present war, she is now to send a new battalion, numbering 
in its ranks many of her most precious and hopeful sons, as she 
has already surrendered others to her country. 

■• We commit these sacred emblems to your hands with a 
confidence never surpassed, for you and many of your command 
are veteran soldiers. Many of your regiment have already faced 
the foe, as you, on many fields, have done. We address you 
confidently — soldiers of tried valor and large experience are 
before us. 

" It is an interesting period which calls you. Mr. Commander, 
tor the third time to draw your sword. Three years, more than 
one-third the time occupied by our fathers in the old Revolutionary 
War. have passed in our battle with the unhallowed and unjust 
revolt. The consequences to mankind, the mark which is made 
in history by the struggle of right with unparalleled wrong, will 
itself never find a parallel in achievements of the past. It was 
for independence our fathers fought ; we for liberty and civiliza- 
tion. 

14 You will join an army of three years' experience, composed 
of tried and veteran troop-, who on many fields have proved their 

tenacity mid Strength Of intellect :ind body. 

••When we consider the va-t resources of the nation, the 
numbers of soldiers of whom tin' army is composed, and the 
capacity of the officers by whom they are led. we feel that they 

can challenge Comparison with any in the world. And von. Mi. 

Commander, have the satisfaction of knowing that they are to be 

Combined and led by an officer whose successes have run current 
wilh the fortunes Of the war. and iii \ lew of whose illustrious ser- 

vices already given, we may cherish the fond and pious hope and 
aspirations that God will, ere long, granl us the victory. 



ORGANIZATION'. 



13 



" I commit these banners to yon as a citizen of Massachusetts 
and as a personal friend, an officer firm and loyal, a citizen faith- 
ful and patriotic, a friend in whom there is no guile, with a satis- 
faction no words can express, and whatever fate may be before 
you, I know that neither on the white stripes of the one flag 
nor the white field of the other will there ever fall the slightest 
dishonor." 

After receiving the colors Colonel Bartlett responded as 
follows : — 

" Your Excellency, I hope, sir, we shall do the flag more 
credit in action than we do ourselves in speech." Then turning to 
the regiment he spoke in a clear voice aud with an impassioned 
utterance that inspired ever} T heart, carefully and slowly measur- 
ing every sentence, as follows : — 

" My men, this flag which is the standard of our own Massa- 
chusetts, and this which we have been taught to look upon as the 
sacred emblem of our nation, has today been formally entrusted 
to our keeping, to carry and defend, by the Governor of our State. 
Can I say to him for you that you will try to do honor to this 
trust ; that you will carry it and defend it whenever and wher- 
ever duty calls ; that you will never desert, disown or disgrace it ; 
that you will swear by it, pray for it, live for it, aud, if need be, 
die for it ; and that you will devote yourselves to its service until it 
shall be feared and respected throughout the recreant South as it 
is loved and cherished by the loyal North? 

" Ever since that flag was insulted by traitors in Charleston 
Harbor it has had a warmer place in the heart of every loyal man. 
When her high-toned orators threatened the South's rebellion and 
secession, we endured a great deal of personal insult and abuse, 
calmly and silently, but when, viper-like, she turned and fired 
upon the flag which had shielded and protected her, she struck a 
blow which blood alone can atone for. She made a blot upon 
the page of our national history, which we are in arms today to 
wipe out. As it went slowly and sullenly down on those battered 
walls, it went up like magic on every hill-top and tower, on every 
steeple and staff throughout the North, and nearer and dearer to 
us than anything else on earth and reverenced next to our 
religion, is that old flag still. 



14 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS VOLUNTEERS. 



"There are those at the South who, still true to their coun- 
try, are waiting silently and patiently till they see the gleam of its 
folds again, a token of the return of good government, the over- 
throw of despotism and rebellion ; and there are those, too, who 
wait hopefully, prayerfully for its coming, for they know that 
now and hereafter wherever that flag floats all men are free." 

The address was received with hearty applause. 

Sunday, April 10th, the regiment was marched into the city 
and attended church at the Old South where Rev. E. A. Walker 
preached an interesting and patriotic sermon. 

All now felt that the time was drawing near when the pleas- 
ant relations and social attachments with the people of Worcester 
must be severed and the regiment take the field. 

The efficient quartermaster had supplied the necessary camp 
equipage for held service and each soldier had the following arti- 
cles issued to him. which he was required to carry on his person, 
viz. : — 

1 great COat. 1 tin cup. 

1 fatigue coat. l knife and fork. 
'i pairs flannel drawers. 1 spoon. 

2 flannel shirts. 1 tin plate. 

- pairs stockings. l rubber blanket. 

1 pair shoes. l haversack. 

1 blanket. 1 canteen. 

1 kii:i|iv:ick. 

These articles when packed upon a man's hack, together 
with his rifle and equipments, made considerable of a load. A 
smallman looked all knapsack, with his legs hanging -outside to 
steer by. 

Sunday. April 17th, was the last day in Camp John E. Wool. 
Every one was getting ready and, though busy, snatching a lew 
momenta for hurried chal with the friends they were to leave 
behind. 



CHAPTER II. 




OFF FOR THE WAR. 

JITH the budding flowers and opening spring of 1864, 
the long-expected orders came for the regiment to 
take the field. The quiet, happy scenes of peace 
were to be suddenly transformed into those of 
bloody strife. Tender words were exchanged be- 
tween sweethearts, relatives and friends who had made 
camp life so delightful during the past winter. Many 
were the fond, anxious looks and sad farewells that followed the 
line of blue on that lovely April day, as the regiment marched 
out of Camp Wool and embarked on a special train on the 
Norwich and Worcester Railroad, and many were the beating 
hearts in blue whose affections were left behind. Strong links 
that bind one to home and friends also inspire him to a higher 
sense of duty, for he realizes that they confide in his honor and 
bravery to do his duty and he feels that he has accepted a sacred 
obligation, which he cannot betray without sacrificing all his honor 
and manhood, which, to a true man, are dearer than life itself. 

The train left at two p.m., April 18th, 1864, having on board 
nine hundred and twenty-eight men. At Norwich the regiment 
was loaded on a government transport and landed at Jersey City 
the next morning. After remaining upon the dock until about 
noon, it was again loaded upon cars for Philadelphia. All knew 
our destination was Annapolis, but from there one could only 
conjecture what disposition was to be made of us. 

The regiment arrived at Philadelphia in the evening and was 
hospitably Entertained by the citizens at Cooper Refreshment 



Ik FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Rooms. Never will the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts and other 
regiments forget the bountiful feast which was provided for the 
hungry men arriving j„ that city on their way to the seat of war. 
It was a noble exhibition of Philadelphia loyalty and patriotism 
shining down through the long years from 1776. The record of 
this beneficence will be held in everlasting remembrance. During 
the war those volunteer women and men furnished food to more 
than one million of soldiers, lodging to forty thousand, while 
twenty thousand had theii wounds dressed and cared for by at- 
tendants in the adjoiuing hospital. No doubt this has been 
mentioned in every regimental history of Massachusetts troops 
that marched through Philadelphia during the war. If not, it 
deserves a place there. Too frequent mention cannot be made 
of such lofty acts of patriotism which show that loyal heart- 
live not alone in the armies but with the people who sustau 
them. 

The history of the Cooper Refreshment Rooms would til' 
volumes. They were established early in the war from a littl 
incidenl hardly worth mentioning. The wife of a poor mechanic 
who lived uear the landing that was the terminus of the Camden 
and Amboy Railroad in that city, went *ut one morning with her 
coffee pot and cup and gave hot coffee to about a dozen soldiers. 
Thi> was the beginning which led to the building of such a mag- 
nificent system of relief, which will always be remembered by 
every soldier thai passed through the city of "Brotherly hove" 

during the War of the Rebellion. 

The work was quickly taken up and carried on by other 
loyal women in Philadelphia who immediately formed themselves 
into a committee for the genera] distribution of coffee to passing 
Union soldiers, whether going to or returning from the seat of 
war - Tu e men were not long in coming to the assistance of the 
ladies. Ai liisi refreshments were collected and served under the 
trees in fronl <>( a cooper's shop on Otsego Street, near Washing- 
'"" A.ve. The patriotic .Mr. William Cooper, the owner of the 
shop, Boon saw what was needed and immediately gave the use of 
ll|s large Bhop for this purpose. The building was at once 
cleared and the firsl regimenl wasted under its roof May 27th 




CtA.0. *n 



OFF FOR THE WAR. 17 

1861. A banner was stretched across the street bearing the fol- 
lowing words in large letters : 



cooper's shop 
volunteer refreshment saloon 

FREE. 



The demand became so great that other rooms near by had to 
be opened and eventually a temporary hospital was attached and 
the best of medical attention given where it was needed. 

One may reasonably hope for pardon in digressing a little 
from the main subject to speak of an institution which accom- 
plished so much good. While recording deeds of valor upon the 
battlefield, we cannot forget the good, self-sacrificing work of 
the noble women of our land, who not only administered food and 
clothing, but were found at the front in the hospitals, nursing the 
sick and wounded, and giving hope and encouragement to the 
dying. The touch of their hands was like a soft, healing balm 
after the work of the surgeon's knife and saw. Their purity of 
character was always above reproach; even the harshest voice 
became softened and the roughest nature spellbound in their 
presence. They came like ministering angels, always shedding a 
glow of sunlight. They took the place of our mothers and sis- 
ters, — God bless them. Their influence for good permeated 
through all grades and conditions and he was none the less a 
brave soldier who carried the love of a pure woman buttoned 
beneath his coat of blue. 

After the entertainment the regiment was marched across the 
city and took cars of all descriptions and reached Baltimore on 
Wednesday, April 20th ; there receiving for the first time, their 
taste of army fare, the historic hard tack and salt meat. The 
ride from Baltimore to Annapolis was very comfortable and pleas- 
ant. The latter-named place was reached in the afternoon and. 
after a march of about two miles, camp was made in a ploughed 
field where the men received their first experience in sleeping on 
the ground. 



18 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The next morning steps were taken to put the camp in proper 
order. A detail was made of about twenty men for "police" 
purposes. Policing in the army does not mean exactly the same 
as in civil life. It is not for the purpose of preserving order and 
arresting the disorderly, but for the purpose of cleaning up the 
camp. The officer in charge was directed to report to the officer 
of the day when the work was completed. The detail worked 
faithfully nnd removed everything objectionable to health and 
cleanliness, when the report was made to the officer of the day 
that the work was completed. After the latter had made an 
inspection he disapproved the report in a very positive manner 
and directed the whole camp to be swept with brooms. Accord- 
ingly work w:is resinned and this newly-ploughed field was care- 
fully swept during a high wind. The sanitary improvements that 
were thereby made have not been discovered to this day 

The Ninth Army Corps, under Maj.-Gen. Ambrose E. Burn- 
side, was at Annapolis, reorganizing after its previous severe cam- 
paign in East Tennessee. The Fifty-Seventh .Massachusetts was 
assigned to the First Brigade, First Division of this Corps. Two 
days were spenl in preparation for the march of the whole corps to 
the scat of war. Everyone then saw that the destination was the 

Army of the Pol ac. Five days' rations were issued and camp 

was broken Saturday morning, April 23d. The regimenl was firsl 
formed into column of companies, ranks opened, knapsacks 
unslung and company commanders were ordered to make a thor- 
ough inspection and permit the men to carry nothing Inn their 
arms and equipments, live days' rations in their haversacks; a 
change of underclothing, on,' blanket, one overcoal ami a pair of 
shoes iii the knapsacks, a tin cup, knife, fork ami spoon. Provi- 
sion had been made and considerable extra clothing had Keen 
packed in boxes and stored at Annapolis, in charge of the quarter- 
master there, t<» be forwarded when it was required, yet there was 

Mill a BUrplUB. 

In complying with this order many of the knapsack- were 
found Deatly packed with precious little keepsakes and other 

treasures, esteemed of more value by their owners than any article 

Of Clothing. It -eellled like highway loUiel'Y to throw thelll ollt, lillt 



OFF FOR THE WAR. 19 

they had to go. Most of them were picked up and slyly put back 
into the knapsack again. It seemed like sacrilege to leave such 
things scattered upon the ground. 

The line of march was then taken up for Virginia by way of 
Washington. The day was extremely hot and the knapsacks 
weighed like lead, growing heavier and heavier with each weary 
step. As human endurance reached the limit, the conclusion was 
forced upon them that some portion of their load would have to be 
discarded. It was so hot it seemed as if it never could get cool 
again, besides we were marching South — of what use would a 
blanket ever be to them again? hence the blanket was first to be 
left by the roadside ; that helped a little, but some left the over- 
coat, also, while others discarded everything save the musket and 
equipments. Those who had seen previous service were excep- 
tions. The road was strewn for miles with knapsacks, overcoats 
and blankets. A number of Jewish traders from Annapolis 
followed the command with wagons and reaped quite a harvest for 
their future trade. 

Fifteen miles were made the first day. Considering the ex- 
treme heat, and that it was the first march, this was considered 
excellent. The corps went into camp by brigades in some green 
fields along by a winding stream. Coffee was soon made and 
preparations completed for the night. Those who were without 
blankets or overcoats found the night rather uncomfortable. The 
camp of the Fifty-Seventh was very near the centre. Looking up 
and down the little stream, the camp fires could be seen burning 
brightly. As the night wore on the dimly, flickering lights showed 
the watchful sentinels silently walking past and, no doubt, reflect- 
ing upon the fast fading glamour of soldier life as the stern reali- 
ties were appearing. How changed everything seemed. 

Sunday morning, April 24th, with the first dawn of day, 
reveille sounded through the sleeping camp and soon the dying 
embers were fanned into new life for hot coffee. There was no 
sound of the ' k church-going bells," no quiet Sabbath morn, but 
the martial strains of the fife and drum reminded us that we were 
"marching as to war." Tents were struck at five o'clock a.m., 
and the whole command was soon on the march proceeding towards 



20 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Washington. The distance made this day was twenty miles, 
going into camp late at night in a driving rain storm. 

The next morning, April 25th, the third day of the march, 
the line was not formed until about seven o'clock a.m. and the 

march resumed. 

A halt for dinner was made in the vicinity of Washington 
where the unfinished dome of the Capitol could be seen. After 
dinner the march was again taken up and proceeded through the 
city of Washington. The Ninth Corps passed before President 
Lincoln in review, and every man was enabled to get a good look 

at him. 

The President received the review from the balcony of 

Willard's Hotel, accompanied by General Burnside and Hon. 

Francis Wayland, formerly a resident of Worcester, but at that 

time Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut. The troops marched 

past in column of companies at full distance and presented a fine 

appearance by their regular cadenced step and well preserved 

company front. Both Houses of Congress adjourned to witness 

the review. Crossing the long bridge immediately after, the 

regimenl stood, for the Brst time, on the blood-stained soil of 

Virginia, where for the next year it was to consecrate the soil 

witl| much of ,,„.-„. 0WD best blood. It was well that coming 

events were not foreshadowed. It always seems besl that our 

future is unknown to us. The regimenl went into camp not far 

beyond the river, near some old abandoned works that had 

previously been used in defence of the Capital, where it remained 

until the following Wednesday. 

Wednesday, April 27th, tour days' rations were issued and 
forty rounds of ammunition per man. Camp was broken, the 
march resumed and a distance of nearly twenty miles made. The 
day was excessively warm, many of the men were footsore and 
,,,;. m arcb Beemed to drag heavier than any previous one. One 
man, Private Horace Clark, Company B, received a severe sun- 
9troke , from the effects of which he died and was buried by the 
roadside with military honors, the chaplain officiating. This was 
tne firsl death in the Fifty-Seventh. The regimenl went into 

,,„„,, for the Qighl near Fairfax CoUTl House. .Mareh was again 



OFF FOR THE WAR. 21 

resumed at eight o'clock a.m. the next day, through Centreville. 
This small village was deserted and nearly destroyed by the 
ravages of war. But few buildings were standing and those were 
badly battered. 

A halt was made for dinner on the old Bull Run battlefield, 
going into camp at sundown at Bristow Station. The march was 
again taken up the next morning, Friday, the 29th, proceeding 
through Warreuton, making camp near there, and continuing the 
next day to the Rappahannock river, where the regiment went 
into camp to the south of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad 
and became merged into the grand Army of the Potomac ; although 
the Ninth Corps remained as an independent command under 
General Burnside until May 24th. 

The next day the regiment moved into the camp vacated by 
the 20th Maine, which regiment had moved on towards Brandy 
Station. The whole army was astir making preparations for the 
grand campaign about to open. The 20th Maine had occupied a 
very pretty camp during the previous winter, on the heights 
bordering the east bank of the river, by the railroad bridge. This 
had been made quite comfortable. Temporary shelter was made 
of logs, the interstices between being filled with small stones and 
mud, a fireplace in each, with a chimney built of stone and mud, or 
two barrels, one fitted on top of the other. The roofs were made 
of shelter tents. Pieces of packing boxes were laid upon the 
ground for flooring ; in some cases covered with an old rug or 
piece of carpeting. Temporary bunks had been constructed of 
pieces of packing boxes or barrel staves and pliable poles. These 
huts seemed palatial compared to sleeping under shelter tents on 
the ground and spoke well for the good taste and enterprise of 
the 20th Maine. Much time and labor had been expended in the 
construction of this camp and everything showed neatness and 
order. The huts of the enlisted men were equally as good as 
those of the officers. Each company formed a street, the huts in 
two lines facing each other, the officers' huts on another line and 
at right angles with the line of company streets ; at the farther 
end of the streets were the company kitchens. The situation was 
delightful, overlooking an extensive landscape stretching for 
miles away into Culpepper county. 



•>■> 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT mass. VOLUNTEERS. 



Picket stations were occupied on the opposite side of the 
river. The writer remembers his first tour of picket duty in the 
A liny of the Potomac. The night was dark, cold and rainy, with 
mud galore. After standing in the rain and mud all night without 
any sleep, it seemed good to get under shelter the next morning to 
sleep and get dry. It was not long, however, before the adju- 
tant appeared with an order for the regular muster rolls and 
"Company .Monthly Report." There was no further rest. The 
rolls and report had to be made out at once. This was the first 
muster in the field and seemed to those unacquainted with the 
routine of official business in the army as wholly superfluous. 
We all knew we were there and how we felt. The colonel had 
our morning report and he also knew who were present. What 
difference could it make at the War Department? Why torment 
ns in this way? It was extremely difficult to get the necessary 
data to make out the papers correctly, yet they must be sent in 
by a certain hour. It was a day of painful toil and anxiety. 
After the work had been completed and viewed with a degree of 
satisfaction, a heavy wind came up, accompanied by rain, which 
Carried away the frail roof of the lint and nearly ruined the papers 
upon which so much time had been expended and patience lost. 
There was no time to repair damage, so they had to lie sent in as 
they were and remain today among the archives of the War 
Department, in the record of which there is no feeling Of pride, 
hut it was the hest that could be done under such adverse circnin- 

stanci 3. 

Before reaching this point an order had been issued detailing 

Capt. George II. Howe of < pany E on the Brigade Staff as 

Acting A--dstant I nspector-( ieiieral, which left the company 

under command of Lieut. John Anderson. 

Firsl Lieut. George I'.. Barton had also been detailed in 
charge of the Ambulance Corps of the First Division, bul was 

relieved after the hat tie of (old Harbor and rejoined tin- regimeut, 

and expressed greal pleasure on returning. lie said In' wanted 
••to be with the boys, to rejoice when they rejoice, and weep when 

they weep," bul his disposition not being of the '» weeping" kind, 
he was always found l< rejoicing." 



CHAPTER III. 




THE WILDERNESS. 

IN approaching the subject of this great battle we are 
mindful of the fact that it has been written over and 
over again from official standpoints, in which the 
grand movements of army corps and divisions are por- 
trayed, and where tactical movements are reviewed 
by the military critic. It will be our effort to write from 
the other end, or from the ranks of the Fifty- Seventh 
Massachusetts, as seen by one who was there. This is a mat- 
ter, perhaps, of small general interest to the public, but of 
great personal moment to each individual soldier who faced the 
storm of that terrible battle with the Fifty-Seventh. The Ninth 
Corps, to which the regiment belonged, acting in concert with the 
grand old Army of the Potomac, it becomes necessaiy to turn to 
the movements and conditions of this army in order to show the 
history of the Fifty-Seventh in this, its first engagement as an 
organization. 

There were no points of special advantage in the Wilderness, 
except those covered by the roads leading through it, the posses- 
sion of which became one of the principal objects of contention. 
This was called "the Wilderness" because it was one in fact as 
well as in name, in all that the word implies, being a wild tract of 
desolate country lying south of the Rapidan river in Orange and 
Spottsylvania Counties, Virginia, about fifteen miles in length 
from east to west and about ten in width. 

Of all places on earth for battle it would be hard to select 
one more gloomy and desolate, or one presenting so many obsta- 
cles to the formation of battle lines. The deep jungles and dark 
ravines of this almost impenetrable forest rendered rapid and 



24 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

strategical formations and movements impossible, the ground 
being considerably broken and thickly covered with a growth of 
dwarf pines, scrub oak, brambles, thorns and briars, so inter- 
woven thai one experienced the utmost difficulty in getting through 
and could see bu1 a short distance in any direction. It did not 
possess one cheerful feature and seemed the last place in the 
world for the habitation of man ; yet in this dark forest was to be 
fought one of the grandest and most sanguinary battles of 
modern times. 

From this brief description one can readily see that large 
armies would meet with great difficulty in moving with unbroken 
lines and anything like order or regularity. 

Three main roads lead through the Wilderness, the Orange 
plank road and the Orange turnpike, running from the west, a 
Little north of east, a few miles apart and nearly parallel, and the 
Germanna plank road, running in a southeasterly direction from 
Germanna Ford on the Rapidan river, and intersecting the two 
former at nearly right angles, the two points of intersection being 
aboul two miles apart and in the very heart of the Wilderness. 
The Germanna plank road is continued south by what was known 
as the Brock road, while further to the south, and nearly parallel 
,,, tae Germanna plank. ranthe'Catharpin road, the last mentioned 
passing only through the southern border of the Wilderness, 
which was a more open country. The points of intersection of 
the Germanna plank road with the Orange pike and Orange plank 
poada became of greal value to both the federals and ( onfederates 
and where the fiercest struggles took place. 

This section was familiar to the Confederates hut almost en- 
tirely unknown to the Federals. It was like groping in the dark 
to them. 

F r iii,. ranks it i- impossible for one to know die plans of 

the commanding general or the disposition of the several organi- 
zations composing the army, save the one to which iie belongs. 

He marches, whither he does no1 know, or whether then- is to be 
reneral engagement or only a little skirmishing with movements 

to g ft i n position. The situation is all a speculation with him. 
He trudges along with his blankel roll, muskel and forty rounds 



THE -WILDERNESS. 25 

of ammunition. He thinks and hopes and never loses an oppor- 
tunity to brew his coffee when a halt is made long enough. There 
was one thing that every soldier in the Army of the Potomac 
knew beyond a doubt ; it had been learned by long experience 
that whenever a movement was made towards the enemy he could 
be found and always ready to fight with a skill and bravery that 
were the admiration of the world. This was the greatest obsta- 
cle to contend with and was the real cause of prolonging the 
war. It is our purpose, however, to write only the part per- 
formed by the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts, but in describing it, 
we find it hard to separate the regiment from the army to which 
it belonged. 

While the genial warmth of spring was thawing the icy 
shackles of winter and Nature's sunny smiles winning into new 
life the green leaves and budding flowers, emblems of peace and 
beauty, two large armies were facing each other, in full martial 
array, from opposite banks of the river Rapid an in Virginia, pre- 
paring for a scene quite out of harmony with nature's loveliness, 
that of bloody, fratricidal war, one of death and widespread 
desolation. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia for the 
purpose of destroying the Federal government, and the Federal 
Army of the Potomac for the purpose of saving it; the former 
numbering something over sixty thousand. Reports from the 
records of the War Department at Washington show it to have 
been 61,953, in the aggregate of all arms of the service present 
for duty, with 224 guns. 

It held strongly intrenched positions south of the river, 
located as follows: the left (Longstreet) at Gordonsville, the 
center (A. P. Hill) at Orange Court House, the right (Ewell) 
resting on the river near Raccoon Ford, the force along the 
river being more for the purpose of observation, the main force 
being posted in echelon towards Orange Court House, and back 
to the vicinity of Gordonsville, where Longstreet had twelve 
thousand men, and was ready to move in any direction as circum- 
stances might require. An advance by the Federals in any 
direction could be anticipated and promptly met by the Con- 
federates. 



2<> FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The Army of the Potomac, though under the immediate com- 
mand of Genera] Meade, was virtually under the orders and in- 
structions of General Grant who had his headquarters with it. It 
was composed of three corps, — posted on the north bank of the 
Rapidan and Rappahannock, a few miles above their continence, — 
the Second, Fifth and Sixth, commanded by Generals Hancock, 
Warren and Sedgwick, together with the cavalry, under General 
Sheridan and the Ninth Corps under General Burnside, who com- 
manded it at that time independently of General Meade. 

The total effective force armed and equipped, present for 
duty April 30, 1864, was 119,869, with 310 guns. This includes 
all arms of the service, Provost Guard, Reserve Artillery, En- 
gineers and Ninth Army Corps, but this whole force was not 
taken into the battle. The Fourth Division of the Ninth Corps 
(colored), numbering 3,0'.)5 men, was detailed to guard the wagon 
trains. The cavalry, about twelve thousand, could not operate in 
the Wilderness, hence only a small portion of it was employed in 
protecting the left flank, while the artillery experienced still 
greater difficulty in obtaining position and only a few batteries 
were employed. This would reduce the Federal force actually 
engaged to less than one hundred thousand. Neither artillery 
nor infantry Could be handled to advantage in such a place, hence. 
it was almost wholly an infantry light. The mistake generally made 
by Confederate writers is that the Federal strength is always esti- 
mated in the aggregate, while their own is placed at the actual 
[lumber presenl for duty hearing arms. The preponderence of 
numbers was in favor of the Federals, hut not in Buch gr.at pro- 
portion as ha- hem represented, and this advantage was con- 
siderably neutralized in such a thicket as the Wilderness, where 

the Federals were the attacking party in a region unknown to them, 
while the Confederates were acting upon the defensive in a region 

well known to them, and, holding interior lines, they were able to 
inert the Federals with equal force at every point. Under all 

the circumstances the advantage of numbers became neutralized 

in such a tangled thicket as the \Y ildei ne-.-. When line- are 
broken in BUCh a place the troops are forced to fall hack in con- 
siderable confusion and disorder, which the attacking party is 



THE WILDERNESS. 27 

unable to take advantage of by advancing quickly, as it is not able 
to preserve an unbroken front and is, therefore, often thrown into 
an almost equal confusion. Both sides are obliged to halt and 
re-form, the advantage gained being only a few yards in advance 
and a few prisoners, and this gained at a great sacrifice of life. 

The two armies were in fine condition, both as to drill and 
discipline, and each confident in its own strength and the ability 
of the distinguished officers who commanded, with that experience 
and morale which could never suffer another Bull Run. They had 
faced each other in deadly strife for nearly three years and might 
be said to know each other. Upon these two armies hung the 
hopes and fears of both the North and South ; the destruction of 
either carried with it more than a simple victory : it carried either 
the successful establishment of the Southern Confederacy, with a 
complete destruction of our Republic, or the overthrow of slavery 
and the death of the Confederacy. The whole civilized world 
looked on with more than ordinary interest as each side gathered 
all its strength for what promised to be a final and desperate struggle, 
which was to decide the fate of the nation and demonstrate 
whether or not a republican form of government, by the people, 
possessed patriotism and strength enough to save itself from over- 
throw by internal strife. 

Every reader of history is familiar with the plan of the cam- 
paign as formulated by the two distinguished generals who com- 
manded the opposing forces ; the object of General Grant being to 
turn General Lee's right flank, defeat his army by placing the 
Army of the Potomac between it and Richmond, the fall of which 
place would eventually follow the successful accomplishment of 
such a scheme, the Ninth Corps to be held in reserve, along the 
Orange and Alexandria Railroad, until the success of this move- 
ment became well assured, and to check any counter- move that 
the Confederate commander might undertake towards the vicinity 
of Washington. 

The plan of General Lee was to remain on the defensive 
offensive within his strong intrenchments, with the general 
features of the country in his favor, and to fall upon the Federals 
while on the march, by consolidating his forces and throwing 



28 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

them rapidly forward upon some point where the Federals could 
be taken by surprise and at a disadvantage, breaking their line of 
march and' cutting their force in twain, then defeating each in 
succession. It has been stated on good authority that General 
Lee had means of ascertaining the plans and movements of 
General Grant, even before their attempted execution, and was 
thereby enabled to anticipate him at all points. There seems to 
be Q0 doubt that Genera] Grant, who had heretofore met with 
almost uninterrupted success, greatly under-estimated the ability of 
General Lee and the spirit of the troops under his command, and 
commenced the campaign with more confidence, as later experi- 
ence showed, than the circumstances justified. Of all the plans 
fcna l had been considered in previous campaigns and tried by 
McClellan, Burnside, Hooker and Pope, only two were deemed 
practical — one the overland, direct upon Richmond, the other by 
water, ascending the dames river from Fortress Monroe. Each 
possessed advantages and disadvantages; both had been tried 
with disastrous results; one failed, a. was claimed, from lack oi 
proper support, and the other from lack of concert of action and 
generalship. Plans look beautiful on paper and in theory, but 
mosl of thru,, a- experience has demonstrated, are difficult to 
practice. However, General Granl selected the overland and this 
i 8 bow the trouble commenced. 

The Army of the Potomac was too large and unwieldy to 
move in single column, hence it had to move in two, and by corps. 
In this movement it became necessary for one column to pass 
directly through the Wilderness, while the other was to move 
nearly parallel to it j->st south of the Wilderness towards Chan- 
cellorsville, and within supporting distance, on the two roads 
heretofore described, the Germanna plank and the Catharpin. The 
long anticipated order was finally issued and as it will give the 

„„,,..,. a m ore intelligeni understanding of the events that fol- 
lowed, it is copied verbatim, as follows: — 



the wilderness. 29 

Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 

May 2d, 1864. 
ORDERS. 

1. The Array will move on Wednesday the 4th May, 1864. 

2. On the day previous, Tuesday, 3d May, Major-General Sheridan, 
commanding Cavalry Corps, will move Gregg's Cavalry Division to the 
vicinity of Richardsville. It will be accompanied by one-half of the 
canvas ponton train, the engineer troops, which will repair the road 
to Ely's Ford as far as practicable without exposing their work to the 
observation of the enemy. Guards will be placed in all the occupied 
houses on or in the vicinity of the route of the cavalry and in advance 
toward the Rapidan, so as to prevent any communication with the enemy 
by the inhabitants. The same precaution will be taken at the same time 
in front of the First and Third Cavalry Divisions and wherever it may be 
considered necessary. 

At two o'clock a.m. on the 4th May, Gregg's Division will move to 
Ely's Ford, cross the Rapidan as soon as the cauvas ponton bridge is laid, 
if the river is not fordable, and as soon as the infantry of the Second 
Corps is up, will move to the vicinity of Piney Branch Church, or ip that 
section, throwing reconnoissances well out on the Pamunkey road towards 
Spottsylvania Court House, Hamilton's Crossiug and Fredericksburg. 

The roads past Piney Branch Church, Tod's tavern, etc., will be 
kept clear for the passage of the infantry the following day. The 
cavalry division will remain in this position to cover the passage of 
the army trains, and will move with them and cover their left flank. 

At midnight on the 3d May, the Third Cavalry Division, with 
one-half the canvas ponton bridge train, which will join it after dark, 
will move to Germanna Ford, taking the plank road, and cross the 
Rapidan as soon as the bridge is laid, if the river is not fordable, and 
hold the crossing until the infantry of the Fifth Corps is up; it will 
then move to Parker's store on the Orange Court House plank road or 
that vicinity, sending out strong reconnoissances on the Orange plank 
and pike roads, and the Catharpin and Pamunkey roads, until they feel 
the enemy, and at least as far as Robertson's tavern, the Hope Church, 
and Ormond's or Robinson's. 

All intelligence concerning the enemy will be communicated with 
promptitude to headquarters and to the corps and division commanders 
of the nearest infantry troops. 

3. Major-General Warren, commanding Fifth Corps, will send two 
divisions at midnight of the 3d inst., by way of Stevensburg and the 
plank road to the crossing of Germanua Ford. So much bridge train as 
may be necessary to bridge the Rapidan at Germanna Ford, with such 
artillery as may be required, will accompany these divisions, which will 
be followed by the remainder of the corps at such hour that the 



30 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



column Avill cross the Rapidan -without delay. Such disposition of the 
troops and artillery as may be found necessary to cover the bridge will 
be made by the corps commander, who, after crossing, will move to 
the vicinity of the Old Wilderness tavern, on the Orange Court House 
pike. 

The corps will move the following day past the head of Catharpin 
Run, crossing the Orange Court House plank road at Parker's store. 

4. Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth Corps, will 
move at four a.m. on the 4th inst., by way of Stevensburg and the 
Germanna plank road to Germanna Ford, following the Fifth Corps, and 
after crossing the Kapidan will bivouac on the heights beyond The 
canvas ponton train will be taken up as soon as the troops of the Sixth 
Corps have crossed, and will follow immediately in rear of the troops of 
that corps. 

So much of the bridge train of the Sixth Corps as may be necessary 
to bridge the Rapidan at Culpepper Mine Ford will proceed to Richards- 
ville in nar of the reserve artillery, and as soon as it is ascertained that 
the reserve artillery are crossing, it will move to Culpepper Mine Ford. 
where the bridge will he established. 

The engineers of this bridge train will at once open a road from 
Culpepper Mine Ford direct to Richardsville. 

.">. Major-General Hancock, commanding Second Corps, will send 
two divisions, with so much of the bridge train as may be necessary to 
bridge the Rapidan at Ely's Ford, and such artillery as may he required, 
at midnight id' the 3d inst. to Ely's Ford. The remainder of the Corps 
will follow at such hour thai the column will cross the Kapidan without 
delay. The canvas ponton train a1 this ford will be taken up a- soon as 
the troops of this corps have passed, and will move with it at the head 
of the trains thai accompany the troops. The wooden ponton bridge 

will remain. The Sec. .ml ( !orp8 will enter the Stevensburg and Richards- 
ville road at Madden's, in order thai the route from Stevensburg to 
the plank road may In- \'vvr for the Fifth and Sixth Corp- After cross- 
ing the Rapidan the Second Corps win move id the \iciuity of Chandler's 
or < Ihancellorsville. 

6. ll Is expected I hat I he ad \ a nee dl \ isions of the Fifth and Second 

Corps, with the wooden ponton trains, will be at the designated poinl 
of crossing m>t later than Bis \.m. of the iih inst. 

7. The reserve artillerj will move at three a.m. of the 4th inst., 

and follow the Second Corps, passing Mountain Kun at ROSS'S Mills, or 

Hamilton's Crossing al Ely's Ford, take the road to Chancellorsvllle, and 
halt for the night at Hunting < reek. 

8. Great care will be taken by the corps commanders that the 

roads are promptly repaired i>\ the pioneers wherever needed, not only 
for the temporary wants of the division or corps to which the pioneers 



THE WILDERNESS. 



31 



belong, but for the passage of the troops and trains that follow on the 
same route. 

9. During the movement on the 4th and following days, the com- 
manders of the Fifth and Sixth Corps will occupy the roads on the right 
flank to cover the passage of their corps, and will keep their flankers 
well out in that direction. 

The commander of the Second Corps and reserve artillery will 
in a similar manner look out for the left flank. Wherever practicable, 
double columns will be used to shorten the columns. Corps commanders 
will keep in communication and connection with each other, and co- 
operate wherever necessary. Their picket lines will be connected. They 
Mill keep the Commanding General constantly advised of their progress 
and of everything important that occurs, and will send staff officers to 
acquaint him with the location of their headquarters. During the move- 
ment of the 4th inst. headquarters will be on the route of the Fifth and 
Sixth Corps. It will be established at night between those corps and 
the Germanna plank road. 

10. The infantry troops will take with them fifty rounds of ammuni- 
tion upon the person, three (3) days' full rations in the haversacks, three 
(3) days' bread and small rations in the knapsacks, and three (3) days' 
beef on the hoof. 

Each corps will take with it one-half of its intrenching tools, one 
hospital wagon and one medium wagon for each brigade; one-half of 
the ambulance trains aud the light spring wagon, and pack animals 
allowed at the 'various headquarters. No other trains or means of trans- 
portation than those just specified will accompany the corps, except such 
wagons as maybe necessary for the forage for immediate use for five (5) 
days. The artillery will have with them the ammunition of the caissons 
only. 

1 1 . The subsistence and other trains loaded with the amount of 
rations, forage, infantry and artillery ammunition, etc., heretofore 
ordered, the surplus wooden pontons of the different corps, etc. will be 
assembled under the direction of the chief quartermaster of the army in 
the vicinity of Richardsville, with a view to crossing the Rapidan by 
bridges at Ely's Ford and Culpepper Mine Ford. 

12. A detail of one thousand or twelve hundred men will be made 
from each corps as guard for its subsistence and other trains. This de- 
tail will be composed of entire regiments as far as practicable. No other 
guards whatever for regimental, brigade, division or corps wagons will 
be allowed. Each detail will be under command of an officer selected 
for that purpose, and the whole will be commanded by the senior officer 
of the three. This guard will be so disposed as to protect the trains on 
the march and in park. The trains are likewise protected by cavalry on 
the flank and rear. 



32 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEEK8. 

13. Major-General Sheridan, commanding the cavalry corps, will 
direcl the First Cavalry Division to call in its pickets and patrols on the 
righl on the morning of the 4th inst. and hold itself ready to move and 
cover the trains of the army. It will picket and watch the fords of the 
Rapidan from Rapidan Station to Germanna Ford. On the morning of 
the 5th, the First Cavalry Division will cross the Rapidan at Germanna 
Ford and cover the right flank of the trains while crossing the Rapidan 
and during their movement in rear of the army. The signal stations on 
Cedar. Poney and Stoney Mountains will be maintained as long as 

practicable. 

14. The wooden ponton train at Germanna and Ely's Fords will 
remain for the passage of General Bnrnside's army. That at Culpepper 
Mine Ford will be taken up under the direction of the chief engineer as 
soon as the trains have crossed, and will move with the train of its 

corps. 

By command of 

M I.JOR-GENERAL Ml W>1.. 

(Signed) 
s. Williams, 

Assistant Adjutant-Generat. 

The foregoing order would appear complete in all its details, 
yet it does uot include the Ninth Corps and the part it was to take 
in the movements of the grand army. General Grant in his 
memoirs says: " Burnside, with the Ninth Corps, was left hack 
nt Warrentown, guarding the railroad from Bull Run forward, to 
preserve control of il in case our crossing the Rapidan should he 
| on g delayed He was instructed, however, to advance at once ,.n 

receiving notice that the army had crossed and a despatch was 

Ben 1 t,, him a little after 1 P.M., giving the information that our 

army had been successful." 

The movement commenced at midnight of the 3d of .May, 
1864. The camps were broken up ami the Army of the Potomac 
moved out. with all the panoply of war, upon one of the grandest 
and tnosl bloody campaigns recorded upon the pages of history. 

The righl column, which had t<> pass through the Wilderness, 

wafl composed <>!' the Fifth and Sixth Corps, and crossed the 

Rapidan river at Germanna Ford aboul ten miles below Raccoon 
Ford, where the right of General Lee's army rested. The left 
column was composed of the Second Corp- and crossed at Ely's 



THE WILDERNESS. 33 

Ford, about six miles below Germanua Ford, the Ninth Corps 
being left, as heretofore explained. It was also to guard the 
two fords and the supply trains, which had to be moved with the 
army, besides keeping the lines of communication open. 

All day of the 4th the army moved forward, and the two 
columns crossed the river without opposition, and preceded by a 
large cavalry force, marched rapidly on the great flanking move- 
ment ; the right taking the Germanua plank road into the Wilder- 
ness and the left taking the more Southern road towards 
Chancellorsville ; at which poiut there was a road leading to the 
old Wilderness tavern towards which the right was marching, the 
latter on the side towards the enemy and therefore expecting to 
encounter him first. The bivouac was made for the night near the 
old Wilderness tavern in the hidden depths of the tangled forest. 
The cavalry had been kept well out during the day to watch for 
any hostile force that might approach, but however watchful and 
zealous they might have been, they failed to discover the strong 
force that was approaching under the Confederate General Ewell, 
and also directed upon the same point, viz. : Old Wilderness 
tavern. The advance of the two opposing armies encamped for 
the night within three miles of each other, neither being aware of 
the near approach of the other. That evening General Meade 
commanding the Army of the Potomac issued an order for the 
movements of the following day- In the meantime, General Lee 
had discovered the plan of General Grant and was concentrating 
his forces as rapidly as possible to strike a decisive blow 
upon the right column before it should emerge from the dense 
Wilderness and where it could be attacked to advantage. 
Ewell's advance was already in close proximity to the Federal 
troops with A. P. Hill's Corps at no great distance, though not 
connected. In compliance with General Meade's order, the Army 
of the Potomac commenced to move at five a.m on the 5th of 
May and very soon came in contact with the two Confederate 
Corps above mentioned, when the battle known as the Wilderness 
commenced in earnest and raged almost incessantly throughout 
the day, the Fifth Corps sustaining the first shock and gallantly 
maintaining its ground until the Sixth could be brought into posi- 



34 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

tion and later the Second Corps; the close of the day showing- 
heavy losses to both sides with no decided advantage to either; 
but that night plans were formulated for bringing up all the avail- 
able force on both sides for a renewal of the struggle on a grander 
scale. 

Turning again to the Ninth Corps, to which the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts belonged, and which was left back at the Rappa- 
hannock, it was placed in motion on the 4th and hurried forward 
cm a forced march to "join the dreadful revelry." 

The Fifty-Seventh moved from the comfortable camp of the 
20th Maine on the heights above the river and at daybreak, May 
4th, with forty rounds of ammunition and three days' rations, 
commenced the march in the direction of Brandy Station. The 
very name had a kind of inspiration to a tired, thirsty soldier, but, 
after reaching there, it was discovered that the brandy was all gone 
ami the " boys " were in the condition of Mother Hubbard's dog 
when •• the cupboard was bare." Although the distance marched 
was only aboul six miles :i halt was made until five p.m. when 
it was again resumed towards the Rapidan. Darkness soon came 
ami the regimenl plodded on through the sticky mud. By some 
blunder it became separated and the right wing took the wrong 
road. The mistake was not discovered until about midnight, when 
:i tedious counter-march had to he made which consumed the 
balance of the night. Daylight found the two wings re-nnited at 
a poinl not far from where the inarch had Commenced the night 
before. The men were well nigh exhausted and not in the best of 
humor. They had marched through the mud all night without 
accomplishing anything. Had it not been for the moral safe- 
guard thrown around them by the Articles of War no doubl some 
would have thoughl swear, l>ut this was one of the contingencies 
the Articles of War provided for and became the means of saving 
the moral-, of many a foot-weary soldier. 

After making coffee the route was continued towards Ger- 
maima ford on the Rapidan. The river was crossed at that point 

on a w Icn ponton bridge. The First Division moved to the 

heights beyond and covered the crossing for the remainder of 

the corps; remaining there until two a.m. Friday, May 6th. 



THE WILDERNESS. 35 

Throughout the entire day of the 5th the sound of battle came to 
us from the "Wilderness. It spoke in no tremulous or uncertain 
voice, but in one steady roar like Niagara, with occasional brief 
lulls like moaning wind gathering strength for a heavier blast. It 
told in language that could not be misunderstood of the desperate 
conflict that was raging, but it did not reveal the part held in store 
for the Fifty-Seventh the following day. It was hot, but the 
regiment gained a good rest, while all thought of the coming 
morrow. As night came on and twilight deepened into darkness, 
the distant sounds gradually died away. All felt that it was not 
yet over, only the calm which precedes the storm. 

At two o'clock a.m., the morning of the 6th, the regiment was 
again on the march ; this time into the Wilderness, passing 
through burning woods, until it reached the Wilderness plank 
road about six a.m. The sound of battle could be heard coming 
from the point towards which we were marching. Wounded men 
were being brought out, giving evidence of the sanguinary conflict 
which was raging. 

The Ninth Corps, General Burnside, was ordered to take 
position between the Second and Fifth and to connect with them 
on the right and left. Many writers disagree as to the time it 
became engaged. We were in no position of knowing at what 
time it was brought into action, but the division to which the 
Fifty-Seventh belonged, Stevenson's first division, became en- 
gaged about eight a.m., on the 6th. 

Orders had been issued for a general attack along the whole 
line at five a.m., on the 6th. The divisions of General Wilcox 
and General Potter of the Ninth Corps were to close the gap 
between the right of the Second and left of the Fifth Corps, and 
make an attack in the direction of Parker's Store. Stevenson's 
division was left in reserve at the Old Wilderness tavern. 

The attack began punctually at five a.m. by the Second, 
Fifth and Sixth Corps, but the Ninth had not gained position at 
that time. Upon the extreme right the Sixth Corps assaulted the 
entrenched lines of the enemy, Ewell, but was repulsed with heavy 
loss. The Fifth Corps, Warren, met with no better success, 
while the Second Corps, Hancock, strengthened by one division 



3*1 KITTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

of the Fifth Corps under General Wadsworth, made a furious 
assault on the Confederate Corps under General Hill, in posi- 
tion, carrying everything before it and driving the enemy hack 
about three-quarters of a niile beyond the Brock road. The Con- 
federate right had been completely broken and was falling back 
in confusion when Longstreet arrived upon the scene of action 
with about twelve thousand fresh troops that had been brought up 
from Gordonsville. This saved the Confederate right from com- 
plete overthrow. The flight of Hill's troops was arrested and 
the combined force of Hill and Longstreet made a counter-charge 
ui)on the troops under General Hancock and drove them back in 
turn. The gap upon the right of the Second Corps had not been 
closed by the Ninth and there was great danger from the exposure 
of this flank. General Hancock was also apprehensive from the 
threatened danger on his left and had left one division there to 
protect it. This division did not go forward on the charge but 
held the extreme left of the whole army. The troops that had 
advanced through the woods were thrown into considerable dis- 
order from the great difficulty they met with in advancing through 
the tangled underbrush. Regiments and brigades became inex- 
tricably mixed, so that they were in no condition to meet the im- 
petuous charge of Longstreet. . At this juncture Stevenson's 
division of the Ninth Corps was brought up from the Old Wilder- 
ness tavern, moving by the Germanna plank to the Brock road. 
It filed off into the woods to the right, formed line and advanced 
quickly along the Orange Courl House plank road, near its inter- 
section with the Brock road, ami \ eiy soon came in contact with 
the victorious troops under Hill and Longstreet. The impetus 

of the two forces thus suddenly brought together was terrific. The 

advance was checked, but the slaughter was a ething fearful. 

The loss of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts was two hundred and 
fifty-two killed, wounded and missing in about one hour's time. 
Of the latter mosl of them were cither killed or bo disabled as to 
be unable to make their escape. Again the advancing tide rolled 
resistlessly forward, sweeping away the Fifty-Seventh and break- 
ing down every barrier until our own line of earthworks was 
reached oear the Brock road, which presented a formidable ob- 



THE WILDERNESS. 37 

stacle to their further advance. The contest continued at this 
point until nearly midday when it gradually died away, but only 
for the time being. 

This was the first experience of the Fifty-Seventh in battle. 
It was a veritable "baptism of fire" by immersion, wiiich it 
sustained most valiantly and made for itself a record which it 
maintained throughout the war, one that the surviving members 
can point to with a feeliug of pride. 

Everything was in such a confused state at the time that it 
would have been hard to give a correct account of it even then, 
and is still harder at this late day. The regiment had been as- 
sailed from the flank as well as the front, and in falling back the 
colors had been seen so near the enemy, and then lost to sight, that 
it was believed they had been captured ; but at this critical point, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, who commanded the regiment, 
Colonel Bartlett having been wounded, ordered the men who were 
near the colors to lie down and conceal them. They had hardly 
obeyed this order when the enemy charged down the plank road 
near them, and, for a time, they were surrounded, but in the 
general confusion they were evidently overlooked. 

Capt. Henry C. Ward, Lieut. Charles H. Royce and about 
forty enlisted men remained with them, and finally brought them 
out in safety. This act of marked gallantry is worthy of special 
mention. Sergeant Karpeles has since received a Medal of 
Honor, by act of Congress, for distinguished gallantry. Their 
escape was due to their own gallantry and the dense thicket 
which partially concealed them. The few men who were there 
would have been a mere handful, if discovered, in the midst of 
the hundreds who surrounded them. 

Sergeant Karpeles is now a resident of Washington, D.C., 
and for some years held a position in the Post Office Department. 
Several letters have been addressed to us in relation to this mat- 
ter, which have been written from memory, and while they do not 
agree in all the minor details, which would be a remarkable co- 
incidence if they did, after the lapse of thirty years, yet they agree 
as to the main facts in the case, as all those who were with the 
regiment at the time well remember. Sergeant Karpeles, speak- 



38 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



ing of the affair from his recollection, in a letter to Chaplain 
Dashiell, under date of July 25th, 1894, says: " In the battle of 
the Wilderness, May (>th, 1864, as you are aware, our right wing 
commenced to break and through that brought about a general 
stampede. When it reached our regiment Lieutenant-Colonel 
Chandler inquired of me: 'Color Sergeant, what's the trouble?' 
I mounted a stump which had been broken b} r a shell and replied : 
' Colonel, the rebs are around us.' .... As I was the only 
color-bearer left on the field with colors, we rallied about forty 
men of our regiment and were subsequently reinforced by men 
from other regiments and kept up the fight " 

Sergeant Karpeles retained a memorandum list of the names 
of the men who were with the colors at the time, as follows : 
Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, Lieutenant Ward, Lieutenant Royce, 
Color- Sergeant Karpeles, Sergeants Defoe and McFarland. 
Privates Howard, .Mills. Willard, Southey, Rumsey, Dailey, 
Harrington, Lowell, Newton, Sanderson, Brewnzen, Shalor, 
Towers, Wilson, Bertrand, Barker, Lappel, Hastings, Duggal, 
Pike, Langdon, Derby, Curley, Penland, Grandon, Streeter, 
Rollins. Elbert, Gould, Pipson and St. Antoine. He does not 
give the full names of these men and is not sure that they are all 
spelled correctly. 

Capt. Henry C. Ward, V. S. Army, formerly a Lieutenant in 
the Fifty-Seventh al the Wilderness, writes, under date of Oct. 
.">. 1894, his recollection of the affair as follows: "] directed 
him (the color sergeant) to conceal the colors, as we were 
surrounded by the enemy, front, flank and rear .... We then 
worked our way oul the besl we could towards ourownlines. We 
reached the road in rear and found our brigade and regiment. I 
reported to Lieutenant-Colonel ('handler thai I had the colors 
and, as he had reported them lost to the brigade commander, he 
immediately reported after our arrival, the safety of them. There 
was much more aboul thai matter thai I have forgotten." 

No one seems to remember how Colonel Chandler losl sighl 
of the colors and, supposing they had been lost, so reported to the 

brigade coi ander. Sergt. E. I>. McFarland has contributed 

his recollection of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts in the Wilder- 




HENRY C. WARD, 

Capt. 57th Mass., now Capt. U.S. Army. 



THE WILDERNESS. 39 

uess as follows : "The Fifty-Seventh Regiment started for the 
front on the morning of the 6th of May, about three o'clock in 
the morning. We were ou the road and halted for breakfast 
about sunrise near the Wilderness Run. I should say we reached 
the battlefield about nine o'clock. We turned down the plank 
road, went some distance and filed into an old cart road into the 
woods where we faced the enemy. We left our knapsacks on the 
ground. Colonel Bartlett came up and asked for a drink of water 
from my canteen, then turned around and ordered the advance, 
was struck by a ball on the side of the head almost the same 
instant and was taken to the rear. I think all the companies were 
present except Company K, which was on detached duty under 
Captain Prescott. I think Company H was the color company. 
We advanced under a very heavy fire of musketry until within ten 
feet, I should say, of the rebel breastworks, composed of rails, 
fence, brush and trees, when the line on the plank road was 
broken, and the rebels left their works in front of us and went up 
the plank road. As soon as it was discovered that the line was 
broken, we received orders to fall back. This was immediately 
done. In falling back our colors got caught in the brush. I 
heard Colonel Chandler say : ' For God's sake, boys, don't for- 
sake your colors.' I, in company with others, stopped by them 
until they were released from the brush and rolled on the staff. By 
that time all our regiment was out of sight except the dead and 
wounded that lay on the ground. Colonel Chandler gave the 
order to lie down with them. While we were lying on the ground 
we could see the rebels going up the plank road. One came into 
the brush where we were. Colonel Chandler pointed his revolver 
at him and told him to surrender. He threw down his gun, and 
lay down beside us and we brought him in a prisoner. After 
lying there for a while, expecting to go to Richmond as prisoners, 
we saw some men that were lost from their regiment, the 45th 
Pennsylvania. They joined us and we started to find our way out. 
We crawled on our bauds and knees a long distance, I don't know 
how far, but it was a number of hours before we reached our lines. 
I remember at last of finding ourselves near the road we went over 
in the morning and came back up that road .... I remember 



40 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

seeing the sun almost down when we reached our regiment. We 
then went to work to build breastworks in the road, using our 
bayonets for picks and tin plates for shovels .... This is my 
version of the battle of the Wilderness, as remembered at this late 
day." 

The smoke of battle was so dense, the brush so thick and the 
disorder so great that we could not all see the same. We (the 
writer) were in the second company from the left and marched 
forward with the guide on the colors, but, at the time mentioned 
in this narrative, they suddenly disappeared and were not seen 
again until they were brought iu late that day to the regiment. 
This was probably the time, as Sergeant McFarland says, when they 
were being extricated from the brush. It was generally believed 
that they had been captured and there was great rejoicing when 
they were restored. Colors are as important to a regiment as the 
head to a man, or war paint to an Indian. 

Digressing a little now from the subject, we wish to say, 
for the information of those not familiar with military affairs, that 
colore aii' very important to every organization in war, and 
around them cluster the pride and affections of every soldier. 
The commanding general has colors that follow him wherever he 
•_M.rs and indicate his presence. Each corps, division and brigade 
has a distinctive standard which marks the presence of the officer 
in command. This facilitates the matter of finding him without 
trouble in time of action when it is necessary for orders to reach 
him. Bach regiment also has a stand of colors Dear which the 
Colonel, "i' other officer in command, can always he found. To 
one familiar with military matters these colors serve as a regular 
directory. The colors of a regiment were carried by a sergeant 
specially designated on account of steadiness in marching and 

bravery. There were also seven color corporals who marched 

with ill.- colors. These eight men were posted on the left of the 
r'ejht centre company when in line ami conformed to all its 
movements. This would ;ilu:ivs bring the colors very near the 
centre of the regiment. 

Returning again to the Wilderness, it was in this charge that 
General Wadsworth, commanding the fourth Division of the 



THE WILDERNESS. 41 

Fifth Corps, was killed, while heroically endeavoring to rally the 
troops that were being driven back in such confusion that, for a 
time, the scene was one of appalling disorder. The sound of his 
voice rose in clear commanding tones above the crash and roar of 
battle, as he attempted to resist the deadly torrent that was 
sweeping resistlessly forward. His eye caught sight of the flag 
of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts far in advance floating proudly 
and defiantly amid the sulphurous smoke in face of the rapidly 
advancing foe. He called upon all who wore the blue uniform to 
rally around that standard and hold the ground until reinforce- 
ments could be brought up. The colors were soon lost to sight 
amid the confusion. It was a critical moment. Our line was 
practically broken, held only by fragments of organizations 
rallied by their officers, without any cohesion, but the on-rushing 
tide was checked until fresh troops could be brought up to fill the 
gaps. The dead and wounded which thickly strewed the ground 
attested the destructiveness of the storm. 

The writer begs to step from the ranks of the Fifty-Seventh 
for a brief mention of one of America's noblest sons, who gave 
his life in defense of his country, Brig. -Gen. James S. Wads- 
worth. There have been men in the world like the first Napoleon, 
possessing powers of personal attraction that few could resist. 
General Wadsworth seemed to possess this exalted power to 
an eminent degree, even to drawing men around him who had 
never seen or scarcely heard of him before, holding them almost 
in the jaws of death and impressing them with his own lofty spirit 
of loyalty which rose above all fear of danger. He fell, shot 
through the head, and his body fell into the hands of the enemy. 
It is not enough to say of such a man that " He fell while gallantly 
fighting at the head of his troops." His was one of those grand 
and noble characters that lead to deeds of valor and self-sacrifice, 
regardless of everything except an honorable devotion to duty in 
the cause of his country. His example was an incentive to those 
who saw him, and heard his voice saying, " Steady, boys, stand 
firm and we will soon whip them." If " the blood of martyrs is 
the seed of the church," the blood of such men consecrates the 
corner-stone of our country, and is never shed in vain. His is a 



1- FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

name to live in history as long as histoi'} 7 is read, — " One of those 
immortal names that were not born to die." Yet there were 
hundreds of others, noble and brave men, less conspicuous and 
therefore not mentioned, except in the long list of killed, who 
gave up their lives upon this bloody field and passed silently 
beyond the Wilderness forever. Our Hag, endeared by the 
memory of such names, and made sacred by their blood, becomes 
enshrined in the hearts of all loyal citizens, — the emblem of our 
beloved country ; insult it, he who dares. 

The Fifth and Sixth Corps made repeated assaults upon the 
right and met with heavy loss, but the heaviest fighting was on 
the left, which was held b} 7 the Second Corps and part of the 
Ninth. The order " Forward" would be given and the line would 
move forward through the brush and brambles, where no enemy 
could be seen, until, suddenly rising from the ground, he would 
-end forth a deadly volley crashing through the ranks and crack- 
ling through the thick chapparal, leaving gaps that were quickly 
closed, ami again the line moved on. An occasional counter- 
attack would he made by the "Johnnies," as they were termed, 
and all through the gloomy Wilderness, throughout the long 6th 
day of May, a day that seemed to have no end, it was one seething, 
crackling cauldron of all that a Dante might have conceived of 
the worsl condition of a veritable hell, with nearly two hundred 
thousand men struggling like infuriated demons. The roar of 
battle, like the deafening, clashing roar of continuous thunder, 
rolled along the lines, rising and falling as they swayed backward 
or pressed forward in the gigantic struggle which covered a 
. 1 i - 1 .- 1 1 1 < ■ > ■ of five miles in length, occasionally sinking to a low 
rumble, while lines were being readjusted, only to break forth 

with a more terrific crash as :i lYesli charge was made. One in 

the ranks could not tell how the battle was going, as the heavy 
smoke of burning powder and the burning leaves and brush made 
it almosl as dark as eight, and only judged from the direction of 
the advancing or receding roar of the steel crested billows as they 
swepl forward to be dashed againsl the solid fronl presented by the 
enemy, or were thrown back by a counter-charge; each showing 
a heavy addition t<> the large number of killed and wounded ; the 



THE WILDERNESS. 



43 



latter pleading with pathetic desperation for a helping hand to 
remove them from this horrible field of death. Their voices could 
seldom be heard, but their pale faces and outstretched arms could 
be seen pleading in language deeper than the pathos of words for 
that help which could not be given. Each new charge was made 
over their bleeding, prostrate forms, in many cases both the 
blue and the gray lying side by side in a common brotherhood of 
suffering humanity, which softened all feelings of enmity that 
might ever have existed between them. Whichever way one 
turned these appalling sights met the eye. There was no getting 
away from them, one glimpse of which was enough to send a 
thrill of horror throughout the whole Christian world. When 
opportunity offered a canteen would be passed to the lips of a 
fallen comrade, and even to a wounded "Johnnie " the same kindly 
favor would be extended, though it might have been by the same 
hand that prostrated him. We stand with bowed head and feel- 
ings of silent awe and reverence in the presence of one who lies 
dead before us, but where thousands lie scattered upon the battle- 
field with all the shocking mutilations of the human form, the 
natural feelings of sympathy become stupefied and we are unable 
to comprehend all the surrounding horrors, and shrink from a 
serious contemplation of them ; yet the fact remains that every 
wound and every death goes beyond the present suffering, causing 
bitter tears of sorrow and misery in distant homes, leaving 
fatherless children, mourning widows, bereaved parents and 
desolate hearthstones to fill the measure and echo the glories of 
war. 

There is something grand and inspiring in battle which no 
pen can describe, yet it leaves a train of misery and sorrow which 
is also indescribable. If one were to try to portray the battle of 
the Wilderness briefly, he might truthfully say that it was the 
worst and most destructive tempest known in perdition by " the 
oldest inhabitant." 

A temporary work of dry logs and earth had been thrown 
up along the Brock road, which had caught fire. The thick 
smoke and hot flames blew directly in the faces of our men, 
forcing them to fall back a short distance. Under this screen the 



44 



IT1TY-SEYEXTH REGIMENT MASS. YOUXTEERS. 



enemy rushed forward, carried the works and planted their colors 
beyond, but they were met with a murderous fire and driven back 
again to their former position with heavy loss. 

To add greater horror to the conflict the fire spread from the 
log breastworks among the dry leaves and thick underbrush, 
burning to death about two hundred who were unable to erawl 
out. It is impossible to follow all the movements in the Wilder- 
ness or portray correctly all the desperate charges that were made 
on both sides. It was a succession of them, with few and 
short intermissions, from daylight until dark. It was an experi- 
ence to everyone present that will live in his memory* while 
memory lasts. The experience of one was about the same of all. 

There was no opportunity for strategy or grand tactical com- 
binations. It was simply brute force dashing against brute force, 
where countrymen met countrymen with equal courage in a cause 
which each held dear and believed to be right. We belieye then, 
and believe now. that our cause was a noble and righteous one. 
It has been recorded in history that by its success our country 
was saved from destruction and the shackles stricken from mil- 
lions of human beings that had been held in bondage, bought and 
sold as slaves. The ranks never failed to move forward when 
ordered. There was no weakening, even though the men real- 
ized the terrible ordeal before them. There was a fixed determi- 
nation to "do or die," ye1 nourishing the hope that the end was 
near, that the last charge had been made and the angel of peace 
would soon spread her healing wings over the bloody strife and 
still the angry waves of fratricidal war. 

Every man fell a just pride in the brave deeds of his own 
regiment and loved to feel thai he had a share in them, and in 
years after he loves to tell thai he was with the gallant Fifty- 
Seventh in the battle of the Wilderness. 

The dark shadows of nighl at last fell upon the awt'nl scene 

of carnage and the tur il of battle gradually died away, leaving 

only the watchful, warning shots along the confronting lines of 
picket-. Both sides were well nigh exhausted, but still defiantly 
confronting each other upon nearly the same ground as when the 
battle bad commenced two days before. The tired men dropped 



THE WILDERNESS. 



45 



upon the ground for rest and sleep, the living and dead lying side 
by side. It was a long, gloomy night. Even the partial uncon- 
sciousness of sleep could not dispel the surrounding scenes of 
horror. With momentary wakefulness came the wondering 
thought of what the morrow would bring forth ; if the light of 
coming day would witness a renewal of the struggle. 

It seemed that nothing more of horror could be added. The 
mind could not comprehend the hundredth part of what had 
already transpired, simply what each had seen personally became 
matter of contemplation. A feeling of thankfulness came to 
those who had been spared, yet the thoughts could not but dwell 
with lingering sorrow upon the less fortunate comrades of those 
who had marched side by side over many a weary mile and stood 
shoulder to shoulder in the shock of battle ; who had often shared 
their blankets of a chilly night and talked of the loved friends, 
the distant home and the dearly anticipated return when the war 
would be over. Solacing thoughts that came in the phantasm of 
dreams never to be realized by many. 

The glories of war were lost in its sickening sights. The 
gay parade, with the old-time flag gracefully floating in the even- 
ing breeze, the nodding plumes, gaudy uniforms with brightly 
polished buttons, which were the admiration of the fair sex, the 
inspiring notes of the military band and all the pomp and glamour 
of war that shone so beautifully as the regiment marched out 
from their home camp for embarkation, had lost their charms for 
him, although his aching heart still clung tenderly to the pathetic 
notes of " The girl I left behind me." Now it had become a life 
of real danger, hardships, deprivations and suffering. He looked 
for the bright side, which he knew could only come with return- 
ing peace. He tried in vain to understand why all this misery 
and human suffering should be. As the night grows more chill, 
he snuggles nearer his sleeping comrade and pulls the blanket 
more closely around him, occasionally opening his eyes to look 
for the old familiar stars which are hidden by the thick smoke of 
battle that still hangs over the dense forest, then, closing them 
again, he tries to sleep as he listens to the random shots and 
hears the whiz of the bullet on its mission of death as it goes 



h; 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT .MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



crackling through the slender branches of the trees. These mes- 
sengers tell him that the enemy is still there " on mischief bent," 
but he feels secure in the answering fire of our own sentinels who 
keep vigil while others sleep. Such is night upon a battlefield. 

As the early dawn of morning came to shed its faint rays of 
light through the gloomy ravines, the prostrate forms quietly 
arose, musket in hand, and once more stood in line, sullenly 
facing the foe and again ready to act in obedience to orders. 
Many did not arise, but silently remained in that peaceful sleep 
that knows no wakening until the swelling strains of the one 
universal reveille shall awaken all earthly sleepers, not to bloody 
scenes of war, but to an eternal peace beyond the conflicts of this 
mortal life. 

It was soon discovered that the enemy still held his position 
in force, but neither side showed any disposition to assume the 
offensive ; both were strongly posted behind earthworks, and an 
attack from either would have resulted in disaster to the one 
making it. The deadly struggle of the previous two days had 
left both combatants in poor condition to renew the conflict. 
Small groups soon gathered around the camp-fires to cook their 
coffee, which, with the historical hard tack, made their frugal 
break last. A reeonnoissauce in force of the enemy's position, 
showed how futile it would prove to make another front attack 
upon his strongly intrenched position. Then the inquiry arose 
along the ranks as to who had gained the victory. The man who 
was there had no knowledge of anything beyond his personal 
observations. He knew that the position of the contending forces 
had nut materially changed, lie saw his company and regimenl 
badly shattered, and the dead, both in blue and gray, lying around. 
The question was passed along up to higher authority without 
receiving any satisfactory answer and remains unanswered to this 
day. It was th0U ghl that the New York Ihrahl would deride it 
and let us know all about what we had been doing. It finally 
came to us. after a few days of patient waiting, but tailed to 

give the desired answer. It had been costly to both, and both 

>ide> claimed the \idoiy; ,,n the part of General l.ee that he had 

temporarily interrupted the march of General Granl and inflicted 



THE WILDERNESS. 47 

a heavy loss upon the Army of the Potomac, but he had not 
defeated it ; on the part of General Grant that he still held pos- 
session of the roads leading out of the Wilderness to the South 
and East, by which he could resume the march in the great flank- 
ing movement, which had been his original plan of campaign, and 
he had also inflicted a proportionate loss upon the Confederate 
Army of Northern Virginia, but had failed to defeat it. Both 
had fought with bravery and desperation, the Federals, in the 
majority of cases, making the attack upon an enemy unseen until 
after receiving the shock of his fire ; while the Confederate 
attacks were not made until the Federal lines had become more 
clearly defined. 

Authorities do not agree as to the loss, although the differ- 
ence is not very great. 

Badeau gives the Federal loss, aggregate, 15,467. General 
Humphreys in the "Army of the Potomac" gives it as 15,387. 
Fox says the aggregate Federal loss was 17,666. Regimental 
reports make it 17,337. What would appear as most reliable 
is that given in the Rebellion Records and published by the War 
Department. It should therefore be accepted as official, viz. : — 

Killed. 143 officers. 2,103 enlisted men. 

Wounded. 569 officers. 11,468 enlisted men. 

Missing. 138 officers. 3,245 enlisted men. 

Which makes an aggregate Federal loss of 17,666 ; 14,283 killed 
aud wounded. Of the missing many were never again heard 
from and probably suffered death from the fire which spread 
among the wounded, or perished by the slower torture of sickness 
and starvation in rebel prisons. 

No correct report could be obtained of the Confederate loss. 
A tabular statement published in "The Medical and Surgical 
History of the War," which is generally accepted as being nearly 
correct, gives it as follows : 2,000 killed, 6,000 wounded, and 
3,400 missing, making an aggregate of 11,400. The foregoing 
is for the two days, May 5th and 6th, 1864. 

The loss of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts was as follows : 
2 officers killed, 7 wounded, 46 enlisted men killed, 154 wounded, 



48 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



43 missing, making the aggregate 252. This does not include 
one officer rendered hors de combat by sunstroke. 

Company K of the regiment, under Captain Prescott, was 
detailed to guard wagon trains, and did not, therefore, become 
engaged. There were also detachments from the several com- 
panies detailed on cattle guard under Lieutenant Hitchcock, and 
not in the engagement. There are no means of ascertaining the 
actual number of men the regiment took into action. It lacked 
considerable of being its full strength. 





JOHN ANDERSON, 

Capt. U.S. Army. 

Historian 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER IV 




THE WILDERNESS. {Continued.) 

^N a private letter, written by General Bartlett who com- 
manded the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts at that time, 
dated Rappahannock Station, Va., May 3d, 1864, he 

speaks of the coming battle and the regiment in the 

•^ f » » 

following language: ; ' We move tomorrow with the 
Grand Army of the Potomac .... My regiment is in 
no condition to take into action, but I must do the best 
I can. It will be a long and hard fight. God, I hope, will give 
us the victory. The chances, I think, are even. Grant, I fear, 
does not appreciate Lee's ability, nor the quality of his army. 
Let us hope for the best .... Give me twenty days and I 
could make a splendid regiment of this, but man proposes and 
God disposes." 

In .saying that the regiment was "in no condition to take 
into action " his meaning is understood by the writer, who on 
former occasions heard him express the opinion that more bat- 
talion drills were necessary in order that the several companies 
might be able to work more in harmony and attain a higher 
proficiency in tactical movements. The weather during the winter 
at Camp Wool was so inclement as to afford very few opportunities 
for battalion movements. When it was not cold and the ground 
covered with snow, it was too wet for drill ; even as late as two 
days before leaving the State the snow had to be swept from the 
ground in order for parade and inspection. Every opportunity 
was taken advantage of for both company and battalion drills. 
Some of the companies were organized so late that very few 
opportunities offered. It was not a lack of confidence in the men, 



50 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



as shown by extracts taken from his diary of date May 6th, 1S64, 
after the engagement of that day, as follows: "Move at three 
a.m. to the front. It will be a bloody day .... Went into 
action about eight, thick woods, men behaved well. I was struck 
in the head about eleven, carried to rear, sent to the hospital in 
rear, lay there among the wounded and dying until night when 
there was a falling back and I was put in an ambulance .... 
Knocked about all night. I slept a good deal. Morning laid 
under some trees near the road to Chancellorsville. Afternoon 
persuaded to go in ambulance to Rappahannock, thence to 
Washington, with rest of the wounded. Went to Ely's Ford, 
stayed there until two a.m., only heard of five of rny officers being 
wounded .... Colonel Chandler behaved splendidly. General 
Hancock ordered me to charge over a regiment lying in front of 
us that would not move. We did it in perfect line. Hancock 
said ' Glorious.' " 

This confirms the statement heretofore made by us in regard 
to the hour the regiment went into action. General Bartlett said 
" about eight." As others remember, it was nearer seven, there 
being very little difference between "about seven" and "about 
eight." The whole division was engaged at that time We well 
remember, alter having been in action what seemed to us an 
interminable length of time, of looking at our watch and it was 
not then nine a.m., and we concluded that Joshua of old had 
returned to this terrestrial sphere and was again cheeking the sun 
in its course in older to give Lee time to bring up the balance of 
the Confederacy. If he could have employed the trumpets on the 
rebel earthworks thai we were charging, with the same effect that 
he did upon the walls of Jericho, it would have been of great ser- 
vice to us. Evidently the spirit of Joshua was not with us thai day. 

I quote a Tew more extracts from General Bartlett's diary as 

follow-,: '■Sunday. 8th, amhulanee moved to ( haneellorsville, 

baiting there at hair past nine, a.m., moved to Pine Grove 
Church. Park wagons here. I don't know what they propose t<» 

do with u-. My idea is, Granl is getting mixed 

"The loss in my regimenl Is great, nearly two hundred killed 
and wounded. / am satisfied with tJieir conduct. 



THE WILDERNESS. 51 

" May 9th, moved into Fredericksburg this morning at sun- 
rise, in a brick house here. Lived in ambulance three days and 
nights, long enough .... I am pretty weak. My head is not 
bad, stump painful. A week or two will set me right again 
.... Very long, long day. Sleep on the floor without any 
cover, not cold." 

Again May 10th, General Bartlett records in his diary : 
" Long miserable day. Hear that Sedgwick is killed. I would 
rather that any other officer in the army were gone than he. 
His body has come .... Awful amount of suffering here. 
Very little attendance. No supplies." 

The wounding of General Bartlett left the regiment in charge 
of Lieutenant- Colonel Chandler, a gallant man and one whom 
everyone loved. We will have occasion to speak of him later. 

General Bartlett had previously lost one leg, April 24th, 
1862, while a Captain in the 20th Mass., "but later went out as 
Colonel of the 49th Mass. While in command of that regiment, 
in the assault upon Port Hudson, he received two more wounds, 
one shattering the bones of the wrist and the other striking the 
right ankle and passing through the sole of the boot. Subse- 
quently he took command of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, 
and was wearing a cork leg when he lead it into the Wilderness. 

The name of General Bartlett has been justly eulogized by 
poets and authors; nothing more can be added, save to say that 
all who knew him in the field, officers and enlisted men alike, felt 
that it was deserving ; they felt a personal pride in these eulogies 
and were proud to say that they served under his command. We 
have heard it remarked by some who " did not get there" that he 
placed his men in danger for the sake of his own ambition ; to 
gain glory and promotion. This charge is refuted by the fact that 
he never took his command into battle without orders from higher 
authority, and then did not send them in, as many a commanding 
officer did during the war, but led them in person, doing his 
whole duty fearlessly, and setting an example worthy of emulation 
to many higher in command who often brought disaster by uot 
leading their commands, more disastrous than any which might 
result from the course pursued by General Bartlett. The fact that 



52 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 

those who followed him loved him, speaks in higher praise than 
words. When the commanding officer leads his men he can rest 
assured they will follow even into the very jaws of death. The 
following letter was written by His Excellency, Governor Andrew 
of Massachusetts, under date of May 6th, 18G4, urging his appoint- 
ment as Brigadier-General as follows : " You will note that this is 
tlic second time Colonel Bartlett has marched from Massachusetts 
at the head of a regiment since losing his leg in the battle on the 
Peninsula. Besides peculiar courage and self possession in 
action, he is a young man of fine powers, conspicuous for general 
mental capacity and of superior culture. He is a graduate of 
Harvard College. I have the honor now to request and to express 
my fervent wish that he may receive at once that commission so 
well deserved by an intrepidity and a merit so eminent." 

He was accordingly commissioned a Brigadier-General of 
Volunteers to date from June 20th, 1864. 

There weir many, both officers and enlisted men, who dis- 
tinguished themselves in this engagement and sealed with their 
own blood the eulogies they so much deserve. To mention all 
would fill a space beyond the contemplated limit of this book, yet 
duty commands that some of the more conspicuous should be 
noted, even at the risk of being tedious. When brave men give 
their lives for their country, loyal citizens should not be impatient 
in reading of them. 

Capt. Josepb W. Girdwas killed by being shot through the 
head. J. Brainerd Hall, who was a non-commissioned officer in 
the company commanded l>y Captain Gird, and who saw him 
when he fell, speaks of him as follows: "The father of Captain 
Gird was a graduate of West Point and was stationed at Fori 
Jackson, La., where he was subsequently elected professor of 

mathematics al the Louisiana State College. Captain Gird was 

horn in Jackson, I. a.. October, 1839. <>n the death of his father, 

bis mother came to Worcester. Mass.. where her son was educated 
and fitted for college, he having graduated at the Worcester High 
School and at one time was connected with the Worcester Trans- 
cript. When the 25th \l». was being recruited, he was study- 
ing law. lie at once enlisted us a member of Company F of that 



THE WILDERNESS. 53 

regiment, from which he was discharged Aug. 26th, 1862, by 
reason of promotion to 1st Lieutenant in the 36th Mass., being 
again discharged May 19th, 1863. When the call came in Octo- 
ber, 1863, for more men, Lieutenant Gird was one of the first 
to respond to the call and again enter the service. He was 
almost immediately commissioned a 2d Lieutenant in the Fifty- 
Seventh Eegimeut, the commission being dated Nov. 3d, 1863. 
He was promoted Captain Dec. 31st, 1863. At the battle of the 
Wilderness, when the order was given to advance from the 
reserve line, where the Fifty-Seventh had been lying on their arms. 
Captain Gird stepped to the front of his company and addressed 
them. He cautioned them about being hasty, advised them to 
keep cool, not to get excited, to be careful and not break the line, 
not to fire until the command was given and then to fire low. As 
he turned from addressing his men, and before he had an oppor- 
tunity to give a single command, he was shot in the head and was 
seen to throw up his hands and fall backwards." Captain Gird 
was married while the Fifty- Seventh was in camp at Worcester. 
His mother and a daughter are still living, but his wife died some 
years ago. 

Samuel Souther, 1st Sergeant of Company B, also fell in this 
engagement. Mr. Souther was a graduate of Dartmouth College 
and Bangor Theological Seminary and, for a time, was pastor of 
the Congregational Church at Belfast, Maine. Previous to his 
enlistment he was Chaplain of the Penal and Charitable Institu- 
tions of Worcester. He had also served in the General Court and 
was much respected and loved. He was among the missing at 
the Wilderness, and whether he died on the battlefield or in the 
prison pens of the South could never be ascertained, as he was 
never heard from after the engagement. 

Mr. Souther was a man of high personal character and a de- 
voted Christian, of strong religious convictions which he consist- 
ently maintained, and never allowed anything to interfere with his 
religious duties. He believed it to be his Christian duty to enlist 
in the army for the defense of his country, and sealed his devo- 
tion to it by his blood. He was a noble, honorable, true-hearted 
man. 



54 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KKGIMKNT MASS. VOLUXTEEISS. 



As the years have rolled past since the close of the war, 
vague and sensational rumors have at times appeared in print re- 
porting thai he had been seen and recognized in distant countries 
with a life as strange and wonderful as that of the "Wandering 
Jew." Yearning hearts have reached out with the faint hope that 
possibly he might return again, but they have only clutched at 
the shadows of disappointed hope. His fate cannot be known 
until the veil is lifted from mortal eyes and the darkness which 
shrouds our earthly vision removed. Then it will be known that 
Sergeant Souther died as he had lived, a true man. 



IN MEMORY OF 

REV. SAMUEL SOUTHER 

WHO FELL IN THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS 

May 6th, 1864. 



lie laid his civic honors down. 

Ami girded for the fight, 
Careless of place or high renown. 
Bu1 zealous for the right. 



The Battle of the Wilderness, 
' T\\ as there lie. fighting, fell; 

And still is there his resting-place, 
But the spot there's none to tell. 



He asked nol sword or shoulder- 
knot 

His sacrifice to -race ; 
He chose the common soldier's lot, 

Within the ranks his place. 

< ine ih'ini h of drill, then to the 

front . 
The peer of \ eterans i here ; 

< )ne iie.nl h, and I hen t he fiery brunt 

Of battle, his to bear. 



No sepulture by mortal hands 
Was his ; no chiselled Stone 

In honor of his memorj stands. 
He sleeps with God alone. 

Of all the throng of martyred ones, 

Nciue purer fell than he ; 
Ah, happy country, when thy sons 
Like Souther die for thee. 

CHARLES E. STEVENS. 



Another name, though DOl One of high rank, but one w hieli IS 

entitled to a place in this book, as it is written high upon the roll 
of honor in the service of his country, Charles F. Everett, of 
r pany l>. a lad of bul eighteen, a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy, 

with a face as BOfl and smooth as :i girl's. He left the Worcester 

High School to enter the ranks of the Fifl v-Se\ cut li. Being a 




SAMUEL SOUTHER, 

1st Serg-t. Co. B, 57th Mass. 




Dr. WILLIAM T. SOUTHER, 

Son of Samuel Souther. 
1st Sergt. Co. B, 57th Mass. 




J. H. CASEY, 

Co. C, 57th Mass. 



C F. PADDOCK, 

Co. B. 57th Mass. 



THE WILDERNESS. 55 

bright young fellow, with good education, he was soon detailed 
as clerk in the Quartermaster's Department and in that capacity 
it was not his duty to carry a musket ; but as the sound of battle 
reached him back at the wagon train, and he knew his regiment 
was engaged, he felt that he must be there too. Taking a musket 
and ammunition he started to the front, nothing daunted by the 
dead and wounded which he saw on every side upon his way. 
He entered the dark thicket of the bloody field never to come 
out alive ; supposed to have been killed. General Bartlett met 
him as he was going in and ordered him back to his place with the 
wagons. He turned in that direction, but did not go there. No 
court-martial tried him for disobedience of orders, as the great 
Advocate, we believe, pleaded his cause to the higher court 
above. 

" Captain Anderson : 

May (3, 1864, after having gone into position in the Wilderness, 
Charles F. Everett from my own town, Avhom I had known almost from 
his birth and who had enlisted as a musician in Fifty-Seventh Massachu- 
setts, being only, as I remember, some sixteen years of age, came to me 
while in line, after we had changed position, some distance to the left 
from our original first position, and asked me to supply him with a 
musket and ammunition, which I positively refused to do, as he was a 
non-combatant. Knowing his whole family intimately and deeming the 
position hazardous in the extreme, I remonstrated with him very 
strongly and tried to have him change his mind, but he left me, saying he 
would have a gun " anyway," and would go on the skirmish line. 
Shortly after he returned with a musket and pocket filled with cartridges, 
saying: " I am going, Warren, and no thanks to you." I again tried to 
stop him, speaking to him of his mother and sisters. It was of no avail, 
he went. Shortly after the color sergeant, Robert C. Horrigan, of our 
regiment, was granted permission by the colonel of our regiment to 
visit the line in front of us, when the firing commenced in earnest. 
As he had seen young Everett with me, I asked him to try and bring 
him back or get him back some way, as he was a favorite of mine. 
He shortly returned himself and immediately resumed his position in 
line, saying as he passed me, "I will tell you of your boy later," 
which he did after our lines were driven back, saying he left him 
lying at the foot of a tree wounded severely in right hip, that he 
was unable to bring him away and that he was sorry he was unable 
to do so, as I seemed to care so much for him. The next day, at 



56 FIFTV-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

my request, Horrigau tried to locate him and bring him in if found, 

but -was unable to do so. I have always believed he was one of the un- 
known dead in that fearful fight and Loss on that day of the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts. 

W. 1?. GALUCIA, 
Late Captain Co. E 56th Mass." 

Lieut. James M. Childs was also reported missing, aud as be 
was never afterwards heard from, it was supposed that he was 
killed in battle. Of this officer very little is known to us. He 
enlisted in Company 1> of the regiment, Jan. 4th, 1*64, was made 
1st Sergeant and promoted to 2d Lieutenant April 9th. He 
was of a quiet, retiring disposition, painstaking in all matters of 
duty and gave promise of making an excellent officer. "Killed 
in the Wilderness" is as eloquent an eulogy as could be said of 
anyone. Those who were there know what it expresses. 

Besides those who were killed many subsequently died from 
the effects of wounds. Among them is the name of Private 
Charles H. Leonard of Company H. His remains were sent to bis 
borne, Rutland, Mass., for burial, arriving there May 28th. The 
Worcester Spy, of May 30th, 1864, speaks of him as follows: 
" Private Leonard, in response to his country's call, left home and 
enlisted in Company U, Fifty-Seventh Regiment, in December 
last, where he served with constant and devoted attention as a 
student soldier while in camp during the winter. He was a good 
soldier, cheerful companion, a true patriot and an unflinching 
hero. He fell with a mortal wound in the battle of the Wilderness, 
but survived the shoek until removed to Washington. Hon. 
.1. W. Bigelow of Rutland went for the body, which rests in his 
native town." Henry ('. Maloney, of Company l>. died from the 
effects of wounds received in the battle of the Wilderness. His 

death occurred <>H. 6th, L864, at the age of 18. He had previ- 
ously been transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and was on 
duty at Troy, N.V. at the time of his death. The remains were 
sent to his home, Leicester, .Mass., his native town, and buried 

with military honors in Pine Grove Cemetery. He was al die 
time id' his enlistment a member of the Military Academy of 
Leicester. 



THE WILDERNESS. 57 

Another victim of the Wilderness, of which honorable mention 
can be made, Antonio Phillips of Company D. The Worcester 
Spy of Jan. 12, 1865, speaks of him as follows: "Intelligence 
has been received by the return of Doctor Gould of Fitchburg, 
who arrived home from Andersonville, Ga., December 26th, of the 
death of Antonio Phillips of Oxford, by starvation in the rebel 
prison at that place, on the 15th of September, 1864. Mr. 
Phillips originally entered the service in Company D, of the 15th 
Mass. Regiment, from which he was discharged on account of 
injuries received in the service. He afterwards enlisted with the 
51st Regiment and served with it during its nine months of service. 
On the organization of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, he enlisted 
again and was captured the 7th of May last. During a consider- 
able part of his different terms of service, he was emplo} 7 ed as an 
assistant in hospital, a work for which he was particularly adapted, 
and many a good soldier in the three regiments will read with pain 
the announcement of the unfortunate end of one who administered 
so faithfully and so cheerfully to their wants while under his 
care." 

Space will not permit of special mention of all the wounded. 
One deserving of mention is that of Corpl. J. Brainerd Hall of 
Company B, to whom we have acknowledged indebtedness for 
much information contained in this book ; his love for the old 
regiment having led him to gather and preserve items of interest, 
which are of great value. 

Corporal Hall was shot directly through the body, the wound 
being considered mortal. Although" never entirely recovering 
from the effects of it, yet he has managed to live up to present 
date. His preservation w r as due to excellent nursing and good 
grit. His experience at the time was quite interesting and well 
worth the little space it will occupy here, as described in his own 
language. He was placed in an ambulance about one hour after 
being wounded and in a few hours was three times in the hands 
of the rebels before reaching the hospital. He was wounded on 
the left of the line. After arriving at the hospital he was kindly 
cared for by the surgeon in attendance, for which he expresses 
thanks to Colonel Bartlett. Also received much aid and comfort 



58 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



from the Christian Commission. The night after the battle (May 
6th) the hospital had to be abandoned by reason of the near 
approach of the enemy. All the wounded that were able to be 
moved in army wagons were carried to the rear. "About fifty 
of us were so badly wounded that it was believed it would be 
safer to remain than to be transported with the conveniences at 
hand. The shells from the rebel batteries fell around us all that 
night. The assistant surgeon of the 59th Regiment (I think) 
and Antonio Phillips (hereto referred to) volunteered to remain 
with us. Early the next morning Lieutenant, subsequently Capt. 
( reorge E. Barton, who was at that time attached to the ambulance 
corps, knowing of our perilous condition, came to the rescue with 
a small squad of cavalry. He arrived just in time and all were 
taken off in time to avoid capture by the rebel advance with two 
exceptions. Doctor Gould and Antonio Phillips, who stopped to 
pick up something that had heen left by a wounded comrade and 
were gobbled up. Lieutenanl Barton joined the remainder of the 
ambulance train and after a ride extending from Saturday, May 
7th. to .Monday morning. May 9th, arrived at Fredericksburg. 
Here every ehurcli in the city was a hospital and every one was full, 
while all round outside lay wounded men ready to take the places 
of those who were dying within or being removed to Washington, 
Alexandria and Baltimore, via Belle Plain. Every public building 
was full, while in the smaller houses were wounded men who had 
personal friends or relatives in the Christian or Sanitary Com- 
mission, or friends who had been passed from Washington for 
thai purpose, and were being kindly eared for. The Large agri- 
cultural warehouses were also full of soldiers, placed in rows. 
upon mudd\ and bloody blankets, while nurses were going up and 
down between the rows with pails of ice water. 

•■ For the first few days at Fredericks burg it was almost im- 
possible to obtain bandages. The women, with a few exceptions, 

Were hitter rebels and WOUld do all they COUld to prevent us from 

Boding or buying a single piece of cloth. The bandage with 

which my own wound was hound up was pari of the white skirt 

belonging to an elderly lady who broughl roses into the Southern 
Methodisl Episcopal Church where I was Lying, a .Mrs. McCabe. 



THE WILDERNESS. 59 

Seeing the need of a bandage, she loosed her skirt, cut it into 
strips, and handed it to my father, who proceeded to dress my 
own and other soldiers' wounds." 

Corporal Hall further states in a recent letter, as follows : 
" I was wounded, went back nearly to the Brock road, loaded into 
an ambulance, taken half way to the Chancellorsville house, cap- 
tured and recaptured twice and taken to the Fifth Corps Hospital 
near the Wilderness Run, all before nine o'clock a.m. After I 
had been placed in the field hospital and cared for by Doctor 
White, the sun was shiniug on my face on the right side and a 
piece of tent was fixed up by a member of the Christiau Commis- 
sion. In the afternoon that same piece of tent was changed by 
Doctor Gould to the opposite side. I go thus into details to show 
that all of this could not have transpired if we did not get up to 
the junction of the Orange plank and Brock roads until nearly 
noon. It may be said that it was a long time from the start that 
morning until the regiment was engaged, and it was. The sun 
rose that morning at two minutes of five and was two hours high 
even at seven o'clock." 

Special mention is made as to the time the Fifty-Seventh 
became engaged on the 6th of May, it being claimed that the divi- 
sion to which the Fifty-Seventh belonged became engaged early 
in the morning. In our opinion, it was about 8 a.m. At what 
time the balance of the Ninth Corps went into position we do 
not know. 

Capt. C. D. Hollis, of the Fifty-Seventh, who was badly 
wounded on the 6th, thinks the regiment went into action 
about nine a.m. The adventures of the Captain, after having 
been wounded, were rather thrilling and unpleasant. After hav- 
ing been carried from the field he was taken to the Sixth Corps Hos- 
pital where he was without care or attention, except that given him 
by his servant, until two o'clock of the 7th, when Surgeon Jewett, 
of the 14th Connecticut, dressed his wound, which was considered 
fatal. By this time it had become very sore and painful and he 
was faint from loss of blood. In this condition he was placed in 
an ambulance and taken over the rough road towards Germauna 
Ford and then brought back again and sent to Fredericksburg, 



60 FIFTY SEVENTH KEGEUENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

from which place he was sent, with others who were badly wounded, 
towards Belle Plain en mute to a northern hospital. Captain 
Lawrence and Lieutenant Barker also of the Fift} T -8eveuth were 
among the number. Soon after dark they were suddenly attacked 
by a detachment of Mosby's guerillas. Lieutenant Bond of the 
20th Massachusetts was mortally wounded and died on the 14th. 
During the time they were in the hands of the guerillas they were 
treated 'as the Captain says, " brutally in the extreme, calling us 
by all the foul names they coitld call to mind, at the same time 
punching us in the head with their revolvers and robbing us of what 
valuables they could rind. They took my watch but I saved my 
pocket-book by secreting it under my back. I could see them as 
they were rifling the pockets of those around me. I told the one 
who Fobbed me that he ought to be ashamed to treat wounded and 
helpless men in such a way, but, placing his revolver against my 

head, he called me saying : ' You come here and burn our 

houses and turn us out of home,' this being emphasized with lan- 
guage that was more forcible than eloquent." 

It was not known that any officers were in the party, as 
Captain Hollis represented that they were all privates. 

('apt. Charles Barker, who was 1st Lieutenant of Company 
F, Fifty-Seventh, in the Wilderness, gives the following account 
of his experience in this battle and subsequently falling into the 
hands of the enemy, which will be found of great interest. We 
well remember seeing him fall as he was wounded, and admired 
the quiel bravery he displayed at the time. He says: •• I was 
wounded May 6, 18(54. The left of Company II and right of 
the next company. I do not remember which one. fell back and 

went pasl me. I stepped into line with the regiment and ordered 

them back. They were nearly back in line again when I fell, 

wounded through the thigh. Captain Lawrence came to me and 
tied my handkerchief around my leg, as the wound was bleeding 
freely. I tried to gel back with the help of a musket, bul the leg 
would not go, so I sal down and 'hitched' back a Bhorl distance 
when Captain Lawrence, who had just been wounded through the 

neck, and someone else, I do not remember who, came to my help 

and succeeded In getting me back until we met the Stretcher bear- 



THE WILDERNESS. 



61 



ers who carried us to the ambulance, which took us to the field 
hospital where we remained until about midnight, when the sur- 
geon gave orders to move all who could be moved as quickly and 
quietly as possible, as the ' rebs ' were preparing to shell the 
hospital, to all appearances ; so we started and travelled until 
morning, when we came to a plantation where we were cared for 
and rested part of the day, when we were again started for Rap- 
pahannock Station, but were met by a band of ' loyal farm- 
ers.' We fell back in rear of the army. In the afternoon we 
started with a long train for Fredericksburg, where we arrived on 
the 9th, remaining until eleven that night ; we started for Belle 
Plain en route for Washington. About one a.m. of the 12th, we 
were stopped by the Mosby gang who fired into us, overhauled 
and ordered us out of the wagons in terms more impressive than 
elegant or refined. I did not obey. I was sitting on the bottom 
of the wagon between Captain Hollis and a lieutenant of the 
51st New York, who were lying down when they, the guerrillas, 
presented pistols and demanded watches and money. I hid mine 
in the straw and told them I had nothing for them. Someone 
gave them a watch, which partially pacified them, and, as they 
were in a great hurry, they took the horses and left us in the mud 
where we remained until the supply train returned from Freder- 
icksburg, which we had met as it was going there the day before. 
They took us to Belle Plain where we took the boat for Washing- 
ton and arrived about midnight of the 12th, being six days from 
the day I was wounded." 

The Confederate cavalry, under Colonel Mosby, or as they 
were termed by us, ' k guerrillas/' was a sort of independent, irreg- 
ular organization of men who mostly inhabited that section of 
Virginia where the operations of both armies were principally 
confined. They were dressed in a variety of uniforms, or moie 
generally, none at all, and might be seen in the day cultivating 
their fields while at night they would hang upon the rear and 
flanks of our marching army. In this way they were enabled to 
obtain information concerning the movements of the Federal 
army, which was promptly communicated to the Confederate 
leader. It was a force hard to find, except in such cases as men- 



62 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



tioned by Captain Hollis. Many were the stragglers who fell into 
their hands never to be heard from again. However, it rendered 
some service to our army by preventing straggling to a great ex- 
tent, but when one fell out from sheer exhaustion, there was very 
little hope for him. These men should not be classed with that 
gallant Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. 
Lee. Men who engage in honorable warfare and stand squarely 
up in battle are men who respect prisoners of war, especially 
those who are disabled by honorable wounds. It is only the 
brutal coward, who has not the courage to face the storm of battle, 
who will abuse a wounded prisoner. 

Following will be found a list of the Fifty-Seventh who 
were killed in the battle of the Wilderness on the 6th da}' of May, 
1864: — 

Capt. Joseph W. Gird. 
Lieut. James M. Childs — died of wounds. 

ENLISTED MEN KILLED. 



William II. Wilson 


> 


Sergt. 


Co. 


A 


Thomas Farrell, 


Pvt. 


Co. ] 


Daniel McDonald, 




Pvt. 


' 


1 


Joseph Longdt, 


" 




Michael < iillin. 




" 


' 


' 


George M. Hammond 


» 




Patrick Murphy, 




" 


' 


i 


Robert McCoy, 


•• 




Michael Shaugtraessy, 


11 




' 


Michael O'Connor 


" 




Silas X. Carter. 




11 


i 




Lorenzo White, 


■• 




1 lanici O'Conner, 




" 




' 


John P. Maynard, 


l'vt. 


Co. 


Samuel Souther, 


1st Sergl 


Co. 


B 


Reported missing 


Ma\ 6, 


not 


Heretofore reported missing. 




heard from since.) 




Lew [S Moore. 




Pvt. 


Co. 


B 


Henry M. Fales, 


Corp. 


Co. ( 


Nicholas Finn, 




" 


Co. 


C 


John E. Tuthill, 


" 


" 


John Zimmerman, 




'< 




' 


James J. Willard, 


Pvt. 


" 


Joseph Wow land, 




" 




1 


Charles IP Waitc. 






Frank Bird, 




" 




' 


William Day, 


" 


•• 


Lester Tyler, 




Corp. 


Co. 


1> 


William s. Bourne, 


•• 


•• 


Henry a < lolling, 




Pvt. 




1 


Elisha C. l >a\ enport . 


" 


•• 


i lharles Jones, 




'• 




I 


William Flanagan, 


•• 


•• 


Joshua Hal haw ay, 




Corp. 


Co. 


E 


Frank Lashua, 


'• 


•• 


G( orge M. Ai«lcn, 




Pvt. 




' 


< reorge E. Reed. 


•• 




Se> a Brow n, 




•' 




' 


Herberl W. Bond, 


Sergl 


Co. I 


Thomas Benroy, 




" 




1 


Charles E SToung, 


< lorp. 


" 


Charles Burr, 




■■ 


< 




William M. Caldwell. 


Pvt 


" 


John < iorbetl . 




•« 




' 


Albert S. Ewing, 


•• 


•■ 



THE WILDERNESS. 



63 



John Handley, 
Lewis Richardson, 
Eugene Smith, 
William G. Olds, 
Elmer J. Hardy, 
Joseph Fortin, 
Michael Stanley, 



Pvt. Co. H Michael Shelly, 



Corp. Co. I 
Pvt. " 



Otis E. Wheeler, 
David Parker, 
Albert W. Dow, 
Jeremiah W. Marsh, 
Sterling A. Hopkins 



Pvt. Co. I 



Co. K 



The following named men were wounded at the Wilder- 



ness : 



Col. Wm. F. Bartlett. 
Capt. Levi Lawrence. 
Capt. Charles D. Hollis. 



1st Lieut. John L. Goodwin. 
1st Lieut. Edward S. Dewey. 
1st Lieut. Charles Barker. 



ENLISTED MEN. 



Gusta Beltran, 
Hiram K. Ballon, 
Patrick Birmingham, 
John Davis, 
John Fregean, 
James Howarth, 
Anthony Hey ton, 
George Lawson, 
Asa M. Ray, 
Henry A. Sawtelle, 
John Teague, 
Patrick Crowe, 
Josiah B. Hall, 
John Midgley, 
Warren E. Brewer, 
Amasa Bryant, 
Francis W. Bullard, 
William H. Clark, 
Michael Fleming, 
John A. Hart, 
J. W. C. Heintzleman, 
Charles A. Kirkup, 
Edwin H. Smith, 
Timothy G. Sullivan, 
Peter Ward, 
Warren W. Sawyer, 



Pvt. Co. A 



Corp. Co. B 



Pvt. 



Charles F. Kellogg, 
George Billings, 
Patrick Gallen, 
Thomas Rutledge, 
James Ackley, 
Cornelius Harley, 
Joseph Honte, 
Gustavus S. Holden, 
Charles A. Knight, 
William Kyle, 
Michael Kelley, 
David Lavoute, 
John Murphy, 
Jacob Meatte, 
James Norway, 
John Ryan, 
Gilbert Sandy, 
Edward Saucj r , 
Thomas Shehan, 
John Daley, 
Albert F. Ellis, 
Peter Labombard, 
Joseph N. Shailor, 
George Pecardet, 
John Crosby, 
Patrick Gilmore, 1st 



Sergt. Co 
Corp. 

Pvt. 



. C 



Serst. Co. D 



64 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



John Clark, Sergt. Co. D 

Theodore B. Kendall. Corp. " 

Robert F. McCnrdy, " " 

James Hodge, Pvt. tl 

John Curley, " " 

Martin E. Finkle, " " 

George N. Hudson, " " 

Martin Kelly, " " 

Thomas Long, " " 
Alfred .McDonald, 

Henry C. Maloney, " " 

John O'Sullivan, " " 

Henry C. Scriber, " " 

James Vocell, " lt 

Ensign A. Oaks. " " 

Horace H. Paine, 1st Sergt. Co. E 

Frank 1). Fuller, Corp. " 

Alexander Mc< !oy, " " 

Cephas B. Pasco, Pvt. " 

Samuel S. Smith, " " 

Asa D. Burleigh, " lt 

I reorge N. I !heeney, " " 

Edwin Cudworth, " " 

Nalmni Bryant , " " 

Patrick McXamee, " " 

Marl in Karrigan, " " 

.lames Bartlett, 1st Sergt. Co. F 

William S. Dunn, Corp. " 

Aaron Wilkins, Pvt. " 
Charles W. Babbitt, 

A.ugustin Bourdon, " ti 

I'.ilw in A. Flagg, " " ■ 
Henry Fuller, " 
James \i , Frosl . " 
Alfred E. Gore, 

Albion M <■ I nt ire " " 

.lohn McDowell, " " 

Michal O'Donnell, " " 
Edmund Fine, " 
Michael Harris, 

William Skye, " " 

1 1 < - 1 1 1 - \ \ . Wilkins. " " 

< reorge l.dams, i>t Sergt. < !o, G 

Thomas » ;. .Ionian, 



William Worthy, Corp. Co. G 

Daniel Sullivan, Pvt. " 

Victor Rosette, " " 

Charles O. Adams, " " 

William M. Drake, " " 

Cornelius J. Dailey, " " 
Charles W. Frelick, 
William H. Flagg, 

Garrett Fitzgerald, ,l " 

Timothy H. Lewis, " " 

James Lowe, " " 

Michael Melvin, " " 

John Morrissey, " " 

Lewis Mountain, " tl 

Horace Danyon, t; lt 

Lorenzo Fletcher, " " 

Masial Mallet, " " 

Oscar B. Phelps, " 

Cyrus R. Ramsdell, " " 

Timothy Shehan. " " 

Francis E. Cooley, " " 

Patrick W. Fox, Sergt. Co. H 
William C. Park, 1st " 

Charles S. Chase, " " 

Charles II. Pinkham, Corp. " 

Otis D. Ainsworth, Pvt. 

Joseph II. Binney, " " 

( leoriic A. Brown, " 
Henry A. F. Iloyt. 

George T. Lincoln. " " 

Samuel M. Lovering, " " 

( harles II Leonard, " " 

James A . Marshall, " " 

Charles sharp. " ti 

Warren H, Stockwell, " " 
Charles B. Wilson, 

John S. Williams, 

i reorge H. Wood, " 

Fierce Culliton, Corp. Co. I 

John Brown, Pvt. " 

Peter \ , Burrow s, " " 

TImothj Curtin, " 

l tennis I loliins, •• " 

Patrick ( lulliton, " " 



THE WILDERNESS. 



John Crowe, 
John G. Daniels, 
John Houlihan, 
Sylvester Myers, 
Louis Reno, 



Fvt. Co. I 



Daniel Sullivan, 
George W. Wilcox, 
Orrin E. Writer, 
William Woodville, 
Albert C. Wheeler, 



65 
Pvt. Co. I 

Co. K 



Many of the wounded died soon after the engagement, others 
lingered a while to die of their wounds later, others died in Con- 
federate prisons, while others became crippled for life. 

The following is a list of the missing, many of whom died, 
as supposed, upon the battlefield, others in Confederate prisons, 
while others were never again heard from. If their remains found 
sepulture, it was in unknown graves : — 



George W. Maynard, Pvt. Co. A 
William Maynard, " " 

Charles H. Rugg, " " 

(Captured and died at Danville 
Prison, leg amputated.) 
James B. Freeman, Sergt. Co. B 
Henry J. Fuller, Corp. " 

William Bates, Pvt. 

William Bobbins, " 

Charles F. Knox, Sergt 

(Killed. Was seen by 
tenant Royce lying upon the field 
shot through the forehead.) 
Wilber F. Ward, Corp. Co. D 

Charles F Everett, Mus. " 

Stewart M. G. Fullerton, Pvt. " 
James Hodge, Pvt. u 

Saybrook Lee, " " 

(Died in hands of enemy.) 

John O'Neil, Pvt. Co. D 

John Brown, " Co. E 

(Die:l October 12th, at Ander- 

sonville.) 



Co. C 
Lieu- 



Austin K. Gould, Pvt. Co. F 

George C. McMaster, 

Charles Ryan, 

David Keilty, 

Abraham Luchay, 

William T. Peabody, 

(Died Sept. 2d, 1864, at Ander- 
sonville, Ga.) 
James Richards, Pvt. Co. 

Augustus T. Co veil, " Co. 

(Died of wounds at Annapolis, 
Mel., Sept. 7th, 1864.) 
John B. Covell, Pvt. Co. 

Luther C. Hawkins, " ' 

John White, " ' 

John W. Crowley, " Co. 

George W. Emerson, " " 

(Died at Andersonville. Aug. 
27th, 1864.) 
Frank Short, Pvt. Co. H 

John H. Richards, " Co. I 



G 



11 



The above lists were prepared with great care from reports 
on file in the Adjutant-General's Office, State of Massachusetts. 
While they may not be strictly accurate in all the details, yet 



66 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



they are as correct as can be made at this late clay. The reports 
from which they were taken were made by the regimental com- 
manders while in the field and without having access to official 
records. There are absolutely no monthly reports of the Fifty- 
Seventh on file. The special reports of casualties that were sent 
in were taken largely from memory, which accounts for many 
names that are, doubtless, spelled incorrectly, and others that 
may have been omitted entirely, still the errors, if any, are few, 
and it is thought better to publish the lists in their entirety rather 
than to omit them altogether. The regiment passed rapidly from 
one commanding officer to another as one after another fell in 
battle. It was the same with company commanders and 1st 
Sergeants. Marching or fighting nearly every day, sometimes 
both, for months, gave but few opportunities for mnking out 
reports. The one object, which was paramount to everything 
else, was to do one's duty in battle, and. after that, to try and 
take care of one's self with what few facilities the conditions of 
war afforded. An order would come calling for reports, which 
were always regarded as "red tape"; no one wanted to be 
bothered. The great struggle in which the army was engaged 
absorbed everything else. Regimental commanders would call 
upon company commanders for reports of their companies, then 
a scene something like the following would take place: Company 
Commander — "Sergeanl Blazes, O, Sergeant Blazes — where's 
thai Sergeant?" (Voice from the rifle pit) : "Out washing his 
shirt, sir." " Well, you go and find him and tell him I want to 
see liim immediately." Half an hour later the much needed 1st 
Sergeanl is -ecu approaching. "Come, Sergeant, hurry up, I'm 
waiting for you." " Had to wait for my shirt to dry. sir. l»e fore 
1 could put il on." "Hang your shirt, look at this! Now. you 

see, the d I's to pay: they want a report of my company, 

-end me no blanks to make i1 on and I have do records to go by. 
How do they expect a fellow is going to fight all the time and 

report. tOO? I Suppose when one gets killed he IS expected to 

send bach an official report, so he can be officially killed." 

(Message from regimental commander): "The colonel says he 
is waiting for that report and must have it at once." "Well, 



THE WILDERNESS. 67 

Sergeant, get your roll and let's see what we can do." " I have 
no roll, sir, — that was with Sergeant Bowers who was killed in 
the charge last evening." " Then make a list of all the names 
present." " I have that, sir." " Now let's see who were killed 
yesterday evening — who in the fight of the 12th. Now, then, 
we had so many when the campaign opened and we have lost so 
many — so many killed, and so many wounded, and so many left. 
That makes it as near as I can get at it. Now, if you can find a 
piece of paper somewhere, I will put it down, sign it, and get it in 
at once. I hope this will satisfy them, and will be the last 
report I will ever be called upon to make." Alas, it was with 
many ! 

It was fortunate if the paper could be found, often a paper 
collar would have to supply the deficiency. These reports were 
consolidated by the regimental commander and forwarded, thus, 
for the time being, relieving his anxiety. 

The baggage of the Fifty-Seventh, together with official 
records and retained rolls, were shipped from White House Land- 
ing around to City Point, on an old barge, the " General Mc- 
Clellan." It was not a seaworthy craft, and sank before reaching 
its destination, and went to the bottom of the James river. 
Everything was destroyed that could be of service in making out 
reports. Under such circumstances, it is a credit to the regiment 
that any were made out at all. The importance of such matters 
was not valued as highly theu as now. 

These lists were submitted with the following letter : — 

Headquarters Fifty-Seyextii Massachusetts, 

Before Petersburg, Va., Feb. 6, 1865. 
Gexeral : 

I have the honor to forward herewith a " nominal list of casualties " 
of this command for the year ending Dec. 31, 1864. 
I am, sir, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
To J. M. TUCKER, 

"William Schouler, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 

Adjutant-General, Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Infantry. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 



68 FIFTY-SEVENTB REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The "nominal" lists do not compare accurately with the 
"tabular list of casualties in the Fifty-Seventh" in the adjutant- 
general's report (State of Massachusetts) submitted Dec. 31, 1864. 
The latter reports 1 officer killed and 7 wounded, 46 enlisted 
men killed, 154 wounded and 43 missing, making a total of 
251 officers and men killed, wounded and missing. While 
the former gives 1 officer killed, 7 wounded, 48 enlisted men 
killed, 151 wounded and 42 missing, making a total of 249 
killed, wounded and missing, — a discrepancy of two, which is 
accounted for by the two following names, viz. : David Parker, 
Private Co. I, reported killed May 6th, 1864, and George 
Bukardy, Private Co. C, wounded May 6th, 1864. This will 
make the numbers correspond with the adjutant-general's report, 
but making 49 enlisted men killed and 152 wounded. The 
foregoing list of names is imperfect, rendered so by not being 
able to find some on the rolls. It is "nominally" correct; we 
have no means of making it accurately so. The discrepancies are 
accounted for by later reports, which place many of those formerly 
reported " missing," as " killed " ; as they were never afterwards 
heard from, there is no doubt but they were killed : 2d Lieut. 
.lames M. Childs and Sergt. Samuel Souther are two such. 
Many others could be added, as will be observed b} 7 reading the 
remarks in the list of " missing." 

Many of the wounded died soon after the battle, and many of 
the missing died in Confederate prisons. Very few ever returned 
to duty again. 

Whether the battle of the Wilderness is considered a victory 
or defeat, the Fifty-Seventh loyally contributed two hundred and 

fifty-two officers and men to the I'nion cause. 

Looking at it in the light of after years, we incline to the 
Opinion, thai our loss mighl have been less. It is a well known 
fad, as experience has clearly demonstrated, that men under lire 
for the first time, as many of the Kilty-Seventh were, expose 
themselves more than necessary, and despise any shelter that 

mighl afford temporary protection. Their idea was to stand 

squarely up in line and " face the music." After a lew experi- 
ences like the Wilderness, men do not feel it a disgrace to take 



THE WILDERNESS. G9 

advantage of anything that will protect them from the fire of the 
enemy, providing this can be clone by keeping in their proper 
place in the ranks. The Science of War, as taught at the present 
day in the regular army, specially prescribes that in moving to 
the attack, advantage shall be taken of all obstacles and inequali- 
ties of ground until the final rush is made upon the enemy, and 
men are drilled to carefully observe it. By experience men also 
become better acquainted with each other and comrades know 
whom to rely upon when the shock of battle comes. They know 
who will stand and are much less liable to be thrown into a con- 
dition of panic, which so often proved disastrous and came near 
doing so in this case. 

Chaplain Dashiell, who was upon the field, writes about it as 
follows: "I well remember the rout, as the men streamed D3 7 
in panic, some of them breaking their guns to render them useless 
in the hands of the rebels. Nothing could stop them until they came 
to the cross roads where a piece of artillery was planted, when they 
rallied behind it. Colonel Leasure, of the 100th Pennsylvania, 
began to place them in line. Before long the rebel yell was heard 
and the colonel on the gun cried, ' Advance, first line ! ' when a 
volley succeeding the discharge of the artillery made the rebels 
' skedaddle ' in turn." As the Stretcher Corps of the division 
had not yet been organized, the chaplain, with the band and drum 
corps, followed up the line of battle to minister to the wounded 
and to remove such as they could to a place of safety. Colonel 
Bartlett went into the fight on foot and was soon brought out by 
several of the men, with the blood streaming from his forehead 
and utterly exhausted. 

Although Company K was temporarily on detached duty with 
the baggage train, yet eleven of the company were in the engage- 
ment. Of that number three were killed, one wounded and one 
missing. 

The few batteries that succeeded in getting into position 
rendered excellent service, but it was only at short range and 
with grape and canister to repel charges. 



CHAPTER V. 




SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 

'OST of the day of the 7th of May, immediately follow- 
ing the battle of the Wilderness, was spent by both 
armies keeping up a light musketry fire, removing such 
wounded as could be reached, gathering in stragglers 
and those .that had been separated from their com- 
mands in the confusion of the day before, and making 
preparations for a renewal of the conflict. Where the 
blow was to fall next no one could conjecture, but all knew that 
the struggle was to be continued somewhere. Although the 
Federal commander had been checkmated in the execution of his 
plans for the flanking movement, yet he had not abandoned 
them, and determined to again move by his left flank and make 
another effort to reach the Confederate right and rear at Spottsyl- 
vania Court House. It was a great undertaking to withdraw such 
a vast army from a place so difficult for maneuvering ; especially 
before such a commander as General Lee, who was always watch- 
ful of the movements of his adversary. He divined the plans of 
General Grant to move again upon his right flank, and clearly 
foresaw that the key to the situation was to be found in the pos- 
session of Spottsylvania Court House. This, on account of the 
roads that radiated from there in all directions, more than any 
special advantage arising from the natural position of the place. 
There were, in fact, two plans open for him : one to await in his 
position in the Wilderness until the Army of the Potomac should 
commence its movement, then fall upon its rear, defeat it, if 
possible, cut off its communication with Washington and even 
threaten the city itself ; but in this case he would cut loose from 



72 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

his own communications with Richmond, and the two armies 
would virtually be changing position with each other. This 
seemed too hazardous an undertaking. In this event, the Federal 
commander, if not defeated in battle, could easily have made good 
his communications with General Butler at Bermuda Hundred 
and. as he subsequently did, establish his base of supplies there; 
besides, whenever the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had 
cut loose from its base to move north of the Potomac, as at 
Antietam and Gettysburg, it had met with disaster. 

It must, even at that time, have appeared to General Lee 
that the resources of the South were nearly exhausted, and that 
b3 T a constant attrition with the Army of the Potomac, the Army 
of Northern Virginia would soon become worn out. A man like 
Napoleon the First, who always stood ready to stake his all to either 
win or lose all, would probably have chosen this course, but 
General Lee, with all his courage and skill as a commander, was 
also cautious. By prolonging the war, even by constant fighting, 
there was a strong and ever-abiding hope that eitherFrance or Great 
Britain would interfere in behalf of the Confederacy. The safest 
plan to him, therefore, seemed to be to fall back to Spottsylvania 
Court House and make himself strong there, behind earthworks, 
and await the arrival of his adversary. This he decided to do 
when the Army of the Potomac commenced the movement out of 
tin- Wilderness to gain Spottsylvania Court House. The Army of 
Northern Virginia commenced to move toward the same point. 
reaching it Brsl and throwing up strong defensive works at once. 

In pursuance of General Grant's original plan, the Army of 
the Potomac was quietly withdrawn after dark of the 7th. leaving 
the unburied dead in their silent sleep, tenting in the gloomy 
jungles and dark hollows of this horrible Golgotha, their mortal 

remains to become food for vultures; both the blue and the gray 
resting aide by side in an eternal peace, death Leaving further 

Strife for those who had been Spared, while they were at rest. 

Il seemed good to gel OUl from under thai dark shadow of 

stifling powder smoke into the fresb air and God's pure sunlight. 

The two long days of darkness and horrors through which we had 

pa jsed seemed a lifetime. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 73 

By morning of the 8th the entire Army of the Potomac was 
well out of the Wilderness and once more on the march. The 
Fifty-Seventh, now under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Chandler, passed through the scene of the bloody battle of Chan- 
cellorsville, which had been fought in May, 1863. The regiment 
was halted here for some little time, waiting for the wagon trains 
to pass. While resting upon this historic battlefield the long train 
of ambulances and wagons passed, bearing the wounded from the 
Wilderness to Fredericksburg, en route to hospitals at Washington 
and further north. 

The roads had been badly cut by the numerous trains of 
heavy wagons that had previously passed over them. The wounds 
were now two days old and far more sore and painful than when 
first received ; every motion, every jolting turn of the wheel, sent 
pain through the mutilated forms. It does seem at such a time as 
if the wheels would never miss a stone, stump or other object to 
increase the bodily anguish and discomforts of such a ride. No 
pen can portray the patient sufferings of those self-sacrificing men. 
Such wounds as had received attention were only hastily dressed, 
while others were waiting attention. The heat of the scorching 
mid-day sun added increased suffering from the fevered wounds. 
Details were made from each company to administer such comfort 
or relief as could be devised, but the facilities to do with were 
few. Water was brought in canteens for them to drink and to cool 
their burning wounds. Those who had undergarments, that they 
were not wearing at the time, cheerfully contributed them for 
bandages, and all that could be was done to alleviate their 
sufferings. Many were shockingly mangled and many died on 
the way. Their condition in no way reflected upon the medical 
corps of the army. The surgeous were men of skill and experi- 
ence who worked night and day in the faithful performance of 
their duty, and were more tender in their care than those surgeons 
who never heard the sound of battle. The work of caring properly 
for such a large number of wounded was more than they could 
properly attend to upon the battlefield. 

The Fifty- Seventh was very fortunate in having the services 
of Dr. Whitman V. White, surgeon of the regiment, a man who 



<4 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT .MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

combined surgical skill with a kind, sympathetic heart. More 
than one who survived felt indebted to him for their lives. He 
was indefatigable in his labors. The surrounding scenes were 
anything but cheerful ; ghastly skulls were scattered over the 
ground which seemed to speak, through the sunken, eyeless sockets, 
of the vain glories of war. There were shallow pits, or trenches, 
in which the greater number of those who had been killed in that 
terrible battle had been thrown, and a little covering of earth 
hastily thrown over them, which had been partly washed away by 
the snows and rains of the previous winter. Their whitened 
skeletons, partly covered by faded and tattered uniforms, were 
seen protruding above the ground, mixed and intermingled in all 
conceivable shapes. It was a picture far different from the one 
presented when proudly marching to the evening parade under the 
inspiration of martial music. Such sights and scenes must soon 
be forgotten in the great game of war, as one after another they 
pass in quick succession. The man in the ranks must try and 
forget and march blindly on to face new dangers and even death 
on other fields, until the fatal bullet finds him also, for. after all, 
what is he but a small pawn upon the hoard, although hi; values 
his life just as dearly as those in high command, who stand upon 
the pinnacle of fame, while their names are traced in song and 
story through ages to come, and monuments of costly beauty are 
erected in testimony of their bravery and glorious deeds. He, too, 

has friends in S e distant home, may be a fond mother who 

Loves him just as tenderly, prays for him just as fervently and 
longs just as anxiously lor the return of her noble hoy as though 
he were the commander-in-chief of the army. It lakes more 
courage, more patriotism and greater sacrifices to make a good 
private soldier than it does to make a brigadier -general, and theirs 
is the greater honor. Generals cannot win battles without the aid 
of private soldiers. 

Both armies were now moving on nearly parallel roads towards 

Spoltsylvania Court House, the distance being alioul the same by 

either,— the Confederates marching by their righl flank, and the 

Federals by their left. The Confederate (Jcneral Longstreet 
having been wounded in the Wilderness, his corps was com- 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 75 

manded by General Anderson, who led the advance, preceded by 
Stuart's cavalry. On account of the fire in the woods he was 
unable to bivouac and therefore pushed directly through to the 
Court House and at once began throwing up breastworks. Gen- 
eral Warren commanding the Fifth Corps of the Army of the 
Potomac led the Federal left, but his march was obstructed by 
fallen trees and Confederate cavalry, so by the time he reached 
the vicinity of Spottsylvania Court House, Sunday morning, May 
8th, he ran up against strong Confederate earthworks, constructed 
in a commanding position on a wooded ridge just to the east and 
north of the court house. The second division of the Fifth 
Corps, commanded by Gen. John C. Robinson, advanced to the 
attack, but was met by a heavy cannonade and a sweeping fire 
of musketry, which drove it back in confusion, and at one time 
threatened serious disaster, had it not been for the presence of 
General Warren, who held the men in check until they could be 
rallied. General Griffin's division met with a somewhat similar 
experience, but upon the arrival of the other two divisions, under 
Generals Crawford and Cutler, the Confederates were driven 
back. Finding that he was not strong enough to make another 
attack, as the Confederate troops were fast arriving from the 
Wilderness and intrenching, General Warren also commenced to 
intrench. Upon the arrival of the Sixth Corps, under General 
Sedgwick, which was late in the day, the latter took command 
and made another attack upon the Confederate works, which like- 
wise proved unsuccessful. By this time nearly all of the Confed- 
erate army had arrived and taken up a strong position. The 
Second and Ninth Corps, under Generals Hancock and Burnside, 
had been left back near the Wilderness to guard against any 
possible attack in rear, but on the morning of the 9th General 
Hancock arrived and took position on the right of the line, on 
high ground overlooking the river Po, which is a stream too deep 
for fording and about fifty feet wide. The Ninth Corps came up, 
and moved towards the left of the line, advanced by the Freder- 
icksburg road directly in front and east of the Court House, 
driving the Confederate line back across the river Ny, a small 
stream with heavily wooded banks, of no great consequence. 



76 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The Federal line, as thus established, from right to left, ran as 
follows: By Corps, Second, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth, the latter 
being on the extreme left. 

The Confederate army was posted from left to right in the 
following order: Longstreet's corps {now Anderson's), Ewell 
and Hill, their line lacing in a general direction north and east, 
following high ridges and heavy wood. In order to obtain all 
the advantages to be derived from the natural conformation of 
the ground, it had to be posted, first running from the river Po 
northeast, then east, then almost due north, forming an angle 
with the apex pointing a little east of north, then inclining to the 
southeast and finally almost due south, the two wings of this 
army being thrown well back, while the angle extended to the 
north about half a mile and seemed to Haunt a saucy defiance in 
the face of the Federals. It was thus occupied on account of the 
high and commanding ground for the position of batteries and 
was said to be the key to the whole position. Ewell's Corps 
formed a line from the west face of this angle around the apex 
and part of the east face. A division under General Gordon was 
held in reserve and occupied an intrenched line across the base of 
the angle, from the east to the west face. This was the interior 
line which added strength to the naturally strong position. All 
advantageous points were secured and held by the Confederates. 
This angle afterwards became known as the " bloody angle." It 

see I to challenge attack, and the challenge was accepted. The 

ground in front of the Confederate works was heavily wooded on 
their right, while the two faces of the angle were mostly open in 
front and on the west, and open on their extreme left, which 
rested <>n the Po. 

The reader must constantly bear in mind that, as the two 
armies faced each other, what was the Confederate left was the 

Federal right and vice versa. 

The !Mh of .May WES mostly passed in heavy skirmishing. 
getting artillery into position and readjusting the lines. General 
Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth Corps, was killed by a Confed- 
erate sharpshooter in the morning while inspecting his line of 
intrenchments. In his death the Sixth Corps sustained a heavy 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 77 

loss. He was regarded as one of the ablest corps commanders in 
the service. He possessed the confidence of his men who loved 
him and swore by him. He seemed to have a feeling of sym- 
pathy for them, spared them unnecessary hardships and always 
shared their clangers. A man of undaunted courage and sound 
judgment. He was succeeded in command of the Sixth 
Corps by General Wright. The division to which the Fifty- 
Seventh belonged (Stevenson's) did not come up until nearly 
noon, when they were thrown across to the south bank of the river 
Ny. The Confederate sharpshooters were active throughout the 
day and were of great annoyance to the Federals in securing posi- 
tion. They were also busy strengthening their intrenched posi- 
tion, slashing timber in front of their works on the right, and 
rendering them more secure by constructing abatis. 

On the 10th the Confederates extended their left to the west 
bank of the river Po, in order to cover the Shady Grove road, 
and their right to the river Po at Snell's bridge below the Court 
House, the river at this point running nearly east and west, but 
where the left of their line rested it ran very nearly north and 
south. 

The Confederate works had been constructed with great 
engineering skill, and artillery placed in such a position that all 
approaches to them could be immediately brought under a front 
and flank fire. 

General Johnson's division of Ewell's Corps held the ad- 
vanced position in the angle referred to ; the eastern face, as 
before stated, being heavily wooded, but more open on the 
west. 

General Humphreys, Chief of Staff, at that time, of the 
Army of the Potomac, says: "Late at night (9th May) orders 
were issued from the headquarters of the ' Army of the Potomac ' 
for the operations of the next day. General Hancock was to 
endeavor to ascertain the position and force of the enemy in his 
front and the location of his left flank, and hold his corps ready 
to advance against the enemy ; the Sixth Corps to feel in like 
manner for the enemy's intrenchments in his front, General Mott 
to hold his division ready to move to General Burnside upon hear- 



78 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEER:- 



ing heavy firing in that direction." In compliance with this 
order, General Hancock made a demonstration upon the enemy's 
left early on the morning of the 10th, with the intention of 
forcing a passage across the Po and attacking there, but the 
enemy was found too strong for such an undertaking, and later in 
the day General Meade ordered General Hancock to transfer all 
but one division of his corps to the position held by General War- 
ren for assaulting the enemy's position there ; the remaining 
division to keep up a threatening attitude toward the Confederate 
left. The Third and Fourth Divisions of the Fifth Corps had 
charged the works there, but had been repulsed. With the 
a nival of the Second Corps the attack was renewed. Two gal- 
lant and desperate charges were made. The Federals struggled on 
in the face of a perfect tempest of lead and iron, sustaining both 
a front and flank fire of musketry and artillery, in some places 
gaining the enemy's works, where a hand-to-hand fight took place 
with clubbed muskets. The Federals were repulsed in both at- 
tacks with fearful loss. 

Later in the day two brigades of the Sixth Corps, under com- 
mand of the brave General (then Colonel) Emory Upton, an 
officer of the regular army, moved forward under a heavy artil- 
lery fire in another attack. This was directed upon the west lace 
of the angle heretofore referred to. The charging column was 
formed in four lines and at a given signal rushed forward in face 
of a withering fire of musketry and artillery, breaking through 
the abatis, planting their colors upon the enemy's works, captur- 
ing nearly a thousand prisoners and several stands of colors. 
Desperate efforts were made by the enemy to retake this position. 
It was held by incessant lighting until after dark, when General 
I pton, from lack of support, was obliged to retire, bringing the 
prisoners out with him, and the place was again occupied by the 

Confederates. General Mutt's division of the Second Corps, 
which was t<> have supported the gallant Upton, was at too great 

a distance t.» reach the scene of action in time, hence the position 

had to he abandoned, if there is any one thing that is thoroughly 
disheartening to a soldier, it is to Bee works, that have been car- 
ried at such a sacrifice of Life, abandoned just because theydonol 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 79 

receive the proper support when most needed, and they see the 
advantages gained thrown away because certain important condi- 
tions, necessary to securing the fruits of their dearly bought vic- 
tory, had not beeu properly provided for. Not understanding the 
complicated movements of the various organizations, composing a 
large command, they naturally think that they have been forgotten 
or neglected. 

On the 10th a reconnoissance was made upon the Court 
House by the First Division of the Ninth Corps, to which the 
Fifty-Seventh belonged, under command of Brig. -Gen. Thomas 
G. Stevenson, who was killed in the action. General Stevenson 
was a young man from Boston, who entered the service at the age 
of twenty-five, as colonel of the 24th Massachusetts, and was made 
brigadier-general of volunteers Dec. 26th, 1862. He was esteemed 
very highly by all who knew him as possessing those brave and 
sterling qualities which can be relied upon in the performance of 
duty. He was regarded very highly by the Corps Commander, 
General Burnside, who spoke of him, saying: "Upon all occa- 
sions he proved himself a brave and efficient soldier." 

The reconnoissance was pushed close up to the enemy's 
works on the Fredericksburg road and a position taken there and 
intrenched. In that affair we were in command of the regimental 
skirmish line of the Fifty-Seventh. It was advanced across a 
descending opening in front of a piece of heavy wood in full view 
of the Confederate works, to an old fence, at the foot of which 
there were strips of wild hedgerows, small brush and briars, the 
Confederate skirmish line falling back and keeping up a constant 
fire as our line advanced. From the position we finally gained a 
good view could be had of the enemy's works upon an open ridge 
of hills beyond. General Stevenson was present and directed the 
movement in person, fearless of all danger. 

General Humphreys in " The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 
'65," says : " On the 11th (May) the Ninth Corps was ordered to 
withdraw to the north side of the Ny, take up a position with its 
left on the main road (Fredericksburg) near the Harris House, its 
right connecting with Mott's division near the Brown House, but 
before the order could be carried out, General Burnside was or- 



80 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



dered to recross the Ny and reoccupy his position near the Court 
House, which was done without any serious opposition. Corps 
commanders were directed to ascertain the least force sufficient 
to hold their positions securely, and the number of troops that 
would be available for offensive movements, and what additional 
works, if any, were necessary to reduce the holding force to a 
minimum. They were also directed to keep their skirmishers 
pressed well up against the enemy, and ascertain what changes, 
if any, had been made by them in their works or troops. The 
object of these instructions was to ascertain where a concentrated 
attack could best be made." 

The day of May 11th was mostly spent in preparation for a 
renewal of the battle. Reconnoiterings and skirmishes were con- 
tinued, but no general engagement took place. The enemy seemed 
to anticipate each move, and always with a force to meet it. 
Their army was certainly handled with admirable skill. 

In the afternoon (11th) General Grant sent the following 
despatch to General Meade, dated 3 p.m. : " Move three divisions 
of the Second Corps by rear of the Fifth and Sixth Corps, under 
cover of night, so as to join the Ninth Corps in a vigorous assault 
on the enemy at four o'clock a.m. tomorrow. I will send one or 
two staff officers over tonight to stay with Burnside and impress 
him with the importance of a prompt and vigorous attack. War- 
ren and Wright should hold their corps as close to the enemy as 
possible to take advantage of any diversion caused by this attack. 
and to break in if the opportunity presents itself. There is but 
little doubt, iii my mind, that the assault last evening would have 
proved entirely successful if it had commenced at an earlier hour 
and had heeii heartily entered into by Mott's division and the 
Ninth ( iorps." 

The assault here referred to was that made by the two 

brigades under < General Qpton. 

The afternoon of the L lth was rainy, which continued through 
the eight. The Fifty-Seventh rested upon their arms without 
shelter of any kind, the ground was wet and the men's clothing 
alsOj with no opportunity of getting Avx ; Bleep was impossible, 

not even the Luxury of two rails to rest upOD could be found, 




ALFRED O. HITCHCOCK, 



Capt. 57th Mass., Bvt. Maj. U.S. Vols. 



SPOTTSYI.VAXIA COURT HOUSE. 81 

so the men had to either remain standing or lie upon the wet 
ground. 

The position of the Brown House had been selected as the 
base from which the assault was to be made, and it was to be 
directed upon the apex of the salient angle (" bloody angle ") . 
The McCool House, which was just inside the Confederate works, 
was taken as a guide to advance by. There was a strip of open 
ground between this point and the Brown House. All this ground 
had been carefully examined by the different corps commanders 
and a conference had with General Meade in regard to details. 
General Hancock was directed to move three divisions of his 
corps at dark (May 1 1th) , in the vicinity of the Brown House, and 
charge the Confederate lines at four o'clock the next morning, 
while General Warren (Fifth Corps) was ordered to hold the 
position vacated by General Hancock (Second Corps). General 
Wright (Sixth Corps) was ordered to hold two of his divisions in 
readiness to move wherever their services might be required. 
General Burnside (Ninth Corps) was ordered to support Hancock 
and attack on east face of the angle. It was after midnight 
before the troops were in position. In consequence of the thick 
fog early in the morning, General Hancock was not able to make 
the assault until about 4.80, when he made one of the most 
gallant charges of the whole war. The men moved forward in 
compact masses through the abatis, sweeping over the enemy's 
works like a tornado, capturing General Johnson with nearly the 
whole of his division, about three thousand prisoners, over twenty 
pieces of artillery and several stands of colors. The Confederates 
fought desperately and for a time it was a hand-to-hand combat. 
Most of the Confederates killed were with the bayonet. It has 
been said that this charge was a surprise, but the Confederate 
General Johnson, who held the works where the charge was 
made, says that it was not a surprise, but that the massing 
of the Federal troops, preparatory to the charge, was observed 
by him. 

The charging column pushed on for some distance until 
checked by an interior line, held by Gordon's division, which was 
too strono- to be carried. 



oZ FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The works thus captured b}*- the Second Corps were held, 
and the Sixth Corps sent to the support of the Second. 

The Confederates concentrated all their available force and 
made repeated and determined charges to recapture them, but 
each resulted in failure; and thus the fightiDg continued with 
unabated fury until long into the night, in the midst of a drench- 
ing rain. The Ninth Corps, General Burnside, held the left of 
the line and operated upon the east face of the salient, with the 
Second Division (Potter's) on the right, the First (Stevenson's) 
in the centre and the Third (Wilcox's) on the extreme left. The 
First Division was temporarily commanded by Colonel Leasure 
after the death of General Stevenson. 

The Second Division gallantly charged the enemy's in- 
trenched line early on the morning of the 12th, capturing a 
number of prisoners and two cannon ; but in consequence of a 
severe enfilading fire which was brought to bear upon them from 
another strongly intrenched position held by the enemy, the} 7 were 
unable to hold the captured intrenchments and were subsequently 
driven out with the loss of the two captured cannon. The other 
two divisions made repeated attacks, but were unable to carry 
the main line of the enemy's works. Finally, after desperate 
fighting, the Second Division succeeded in making connection 
with Hancock's Corps on their right, thereby closing a dangerous 
gap between the left of the Second and right of the Ninth 
Corps. 

General Wilcox's (Third) Division math' a gallant charge 
upon the left, getting close up to the enemy's works, but mel 
with a murderpus lire of artillery and musketry and was eventually 
driven back with heavy loss. This charge, though unsuccessful 
in breaking the enemy's line, had the effecl of checking a move- 
ment which lif was making to attack the Federal left dank. 

The Ninth Corps continued the attacks along their front 
during the day and succeeded in holding an advanced position 
close to the enemy and throwing up intrenchments, which largely 
contributed towards rendering tin' ( Sonfederate position untenable. 
The vantage ground gained was at n Bevere loss. General 
Burnside reported it as 2,454 killed and wounded and 590 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 83 

missing, between the 8th and 12th, one-half of which he says was 
on the 12th. 

The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts lost on the 12th, 3 officers 
wounded, 13 enlisted men killed, 52 wounded and 4 missing, 
making an aggregate loss of 72, which stands in evidence that 
our regiment was also " fighting it out on that line " with a deter- 
mination of remaining " all summer" if necessary. 

The engagement was during a heavy rain. 

It is not our purpose to follow the different movements of the 
several army corps and divisions of the army in all their details. 
We would be glad to tell the story of other organizations than 
the Fifty-Seventh, whose gallant charges have been written in 
history much better than we can do it here ; of personal heroism 
which led men to face death in defense of our country, and we 
would love to portray to the reader the grandly sublime, as well 
as the terribly shocking, scenes of the battlefield, which held the 
fate of so many thousands trembling in the balance between life 
and death, but the glory of one, and the dark shadows of the other, 
can never be presented in their true colors to those who have never 
seen and faced the reality. 

The Ninth Corps was acting in concert with the Army of the 
Potomac, although at that time not a part of it, and the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts belonging to the Ninth Corps, it is diffi- 
cult to describe the operations of the regiment without briefly 
describing those of the whole army. It would be like losing the 
touch of elbow when marching in line ; hence, a brief mention has 
been made of matters of general interest with which the regiment 
was associated. The story of one has been written and rewritten, 
while that of the other lives only in memory which time is fast 
defacing. The total loss for this one day (12th May) was : killed 
and wounded, 6,020; missing, 800 — total, 6,820. 

The Confederate loss is estimated at between nine thousand 
and ten thousand killed, wounded and missing. Their loss was 
considerably greater in prisoners than that of the Federals. The 
advantage can therefore be claimed by the Federal side, which had 
not only gained ground, pushing the Confederate army back, but 
capturing and holding the strongest position in their line. 



84 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



After repeated assaults to regain their works in the angle, 
each attempt resulting in bloody failure, General Lee finally with- 
drew his army to an interior and shorter line of intrenchments, 
which were made too strong for direct assault. 

Notwithstanding the great loss sustained by the Army of the 
Potomac, yet the progress that had been made, and the present 
situation, gave bright hopes to sustain future operations. There 
seemed to be a feeling of greater confidence in the ranks than 
when the army emerged from the "Wilderness. 

The commanding general (Meade) issued a congratulatory 
order to the army, recounting the events of the preceding eight 
daj's since the beginning of the campaign: "Eight clays and 
nights almost without intermission against a foe in positions 
naturally strong and rendered doubly so by intrenchments," 
telling them that the work was not } r et over. "We shall soon 
receive reinforcements which the foe cannot expect. Let us 
determine to continue vigorously the work so well begun; and, 
under God's blessing, in a short time the object of our labors will 
he accomplished." The fruition of this accomplishment was not. 
however, as near as one might be led to expect. 

A few incidents connected with the Fifty-Seventh are worthy 
of special mention. During the severe struggle of the 12th. at the 
angle, the regiment had been advancing through the thick brush 
and drenching rain, driving the "Johnnies" back, when a halt 
was made very near their line and the men ordered to lie down 
and continue the firing. There was a heavy musketry lire from 
both sides. The enemy was endeavoring to form line for a 
COUnter-attack ; their words of command could he heard very dis- 
tinctly, cautioning their men about moving forward and sustaining 
an unbroken line, and to lire low. -lust as the command 
"Forward" was given. Colonel Chandler, who commanded the 
Fifty- Seventh, commanded " Attention. Fifty-Seventh; fix 
bayonets, forward, double quick, charge!" The regiment, led by 
the gallanl colonel, moved forward with a rush and cheer which 

somewhat disconcerted the Contemplated Charge Of Hie enemy. 

who made different arrangements and fell hack, followed by our 
line, for a considerable distance, (letting too far in advance 



SPOTTSYLVAXIA COURT HOUSE. 85 

another halt was made and the men again ordered to lie down. 
By this time the Confederate batteries had us located within range 
and were dropping the shells uncomfortably close amongst us, 
which were being replied to by the batteries from our own side. 
We knew where these shells were going, and they were music to 
our ears as they went whirring and shrieking over our heads ; but 
those Confederate shells were the most provoking things one can 
imagine, as they came with a "whir" and a "swish" through 
the branches of the trees, and plunging into the ground, when 
each one would hug the earth very closely and wait for the ex- 
plosion, which would take place in a few seconds, making a deep 
hole in the ground and throwing the earth all over us. There was 
just that much uncertainty in them as to cause a lack of confidence 
in their efficacy. It took some a long time to explode and many 
failed entirely : the men who were nearest fearing to raise their 
heads because they might explode at any time. This lot of Con- 
federate powder was poor and showed that dishonest con- 
tractors were not all on our side. Those that exploded would 
sometimes make a hole large enough for temporary shelter for 
men lying down. 

At another time, in the midst of the battle and while the 
regiment was lying behind breastworks, with the dead and 
wounded lying between the lines, exposed to a drenching rain, 
Captain Doherty of Company G saw a wounded Confederate lying 
in a hollow a few yards from the breastworks, unable to move, 
with a shattered thigh, while the pouring torrent threatened to 
drown him. He shouted to his men " Who will go and rescue 
that man?" The enemy's sharpshooters were picking off every 
one who showed his head, and not a man moved. Then Captain 
Doherty said, "I never ask a man to do what I would not do 
myself," and, leaping over the works, he brought in the wounded 
man who afterwards died in our hospital. 

The enemy was endeavoring to turn our flank, which at one 
time appeared in great danger. It therefore became necessary to 
remove our wounded from the hospital in great haste, and all who 
were able were sent away in army wagons and ambulances, but 
about sixty were so badly hurt that it was impossible to remove 



86 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

them, so that volunteers were called for to remain and care for 
them. The surgeon and chaplain and a few nurses were left with 
one day's rations and a single case of instruments, while all the 
rest moved off. In a short time a company of Confederate 
cavalry rode up and finding that there was nothing to take and 
that we were only doing the humane work of caring for the 
wounded, some of whom were their own men, they departed in a 
little while. Chaplain Dashiell writes: " We were cheered D3 7 the 
- hurrahs' of the reinforcements coming up who restored the lines 
and relieved us from our exposed condition." 

Chaplain Dashiell relates another interesting incident which 
occurred here : " A soldier from Massachusetts with his shoulder 
blown oil, was slowly passing away, in great torture; and 
occasionally the chaplain would administer a dose of morphine 
and whiskey to alleviate his sufferings. He was always greeted 
with a loving look as he approached him. At last he said : 
1 Chaplain, I have nothing but this valuable seal ring; take it and 
buy whiskey and morphine for the wounded boys.' ' No,' said 
the chaplain, k this ring will go home to your father; Uncle Sam 
i> able to buy all that the wounded boys need.' Afterwards a 
letter was received from the sisters of the dead boy. saying that 
they had taken their brother's place and were working the farm 
for their father to let their brother go to the war, and they were 
content that their brother, who might have died ingloriously at 
home, had given his life for his country." 

The chaplain does not give the name of this soldier. 

hiirimj this engagement, Co. K of the regiment supported 
the 7th .Maine Battery, which was continuously under fire. The 
following is a list of the killed, wounded ami missing in the en- 
gagemenl of .May 1 2th, viz : 



Patrick Dillon. 
I laniel Maghnie, 
1 >.-u i'l 1 I ( lonnors, 
Mosee Rivod, 
l.ru i- Brotgers, 
( reorge J. < Iroshier 







KII.l.l 


CD. 










I'M 


< ... A. 


Peter Monney, 
l-'.men 1. Ric< 


Pvt. 


Co. 


(' 




" 


■' 


Henry S. May, 


Sergt. 


Co. 


I) 




■' 


" 


Ambrose E. Morgan, 


Pvt. 




'• 




' ' 


Co. c. 


John Cahill, 
Edward M. Derby, 


11 


Co. 

Co. 


K 


Ei 


I war 


,1 Ross, 


i'\ 1. Co. I. 









SPOTTSYLYANIA COURT HOUSE. 



87 



WOUNDED MAY 12th. 

Captain John W. Sanderson. 
1st Lient. Henry C. Ward. 
2d Lient. Henrv B. Fi<ke. 



ENLISTED MEN. 



John O'Donnell, 1st Sergt. Co. A. 

William R. Walker, Corp. 

Alexander Bedreaux, Pvt. lt 

Augustus Clanguin, 

< (wen Doyle. 

Timothy Higgins, 

John Jordan. 

Dennis Landon, 

John Teague, 

Bartholomew Vaughn, 

.Tame- Walsh, 



Benj. F. Dayton. 


Corp. 


Co. 


B. 


Henry E. Black, 


Pvt. 




u 


Albert Brigham, 


" 




" 


John Mnrry. 


" 




" 


Daniel McCarty, 


Sergt 




' ; 


James Ackley, 


Pvt. 


Co. 


c. 


Oliver Fosgate, 


" 




it 


Cassimer Lapelle, 


u 




" 


Patrick Flynn, 


" 


Co. 


D. 


William H. Rathburn, 






u 


George H. Sears, 


" 




i . 


Almond C. Townsend 


1 




ii 


George Vinton, 


u 




u 


Peter Breau. 


11 


Co 


E. 


John Lawless, 


» 


Co 


F. 



George W. Benton 



Alden W. Stevens, Pvt. Co. F. 

Edwin E. Rumney, Corp. Co. G. 

Ira B. Bullard, " Co. H. 

Isaac Brown. Pvt. 
Christopher Shamboo, " 

Charles A. Fitts, " 

(Died of wounds May 12th.) 

Isaac Ladanx, Pvt. 

Rodney D. Loomis, " 

Joseph J. Johnson, " 

(Died of wounds May 12th.) 

Dennis Sheern, Pvt. 

James M. Stetson, " 

George K. Ober, Sergt. 

Harvey W. Gonld, Corp. 

Edward Carroll, Pvt. 

Martin Haley, " 

William L. Jenne wt 

William Maguire, " 

Alva A. Hunt. " 

John Snow, " 

Ensign J. Simmons, " 

Patrick Thornton, l< 

Henry Whiten, Corp. 

John Connelly, Pvt. 

Adolphus Legrave, " 
Pvt. Co. K. 



Co. 



The following named men were reported missing: Sergt. 
John M. Hastings, Co. F ; Privates Oliver Gosler, Joseph Young 
(Co. E) and Michael Lally (Co. I). 

Very little was done on the loth, except that heavy skir- 
mishing was kept up along the line. 

The Ninth Corps occupied nearly the same position that it 
had held since the commencement of the engagement, viz. : along 
the Fredericksburg and Spottsylvania Court House roads. 



88 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Towards night movements were made by the various corps to 
gain position from which a general attack could be made on the 
Confederate iutreuchments early on the morning of the 14th. 

The position held by the Ninth Corps was selected from 
which the assault was to be made. The Fifth Corps was ordered 
to form on the left of the Ninth, and the Sixth on the left of the 
Fifth, while the Second was directed to attack directly in its 
front upon the Confederate interior lines which they had failed to 
carry on the 12th. The four corps were ordered to attack along 
the whole line simultaneously at 4 a.m. the 14th. The movement 
of the Fifth and Sixth Corps commenced immediately after dark 
on the loth, but they had to march through brush and across 
open fields. The night was very dark and rainy and the mud 
deep, so that these two corps did not come up in time and then 
were not in condition to attack, as man} 7 of the men had lost their 
way in the extreme darkness and others had fallen by the way 
from sheer exhaustion, hence, the contemplated attack was 
abandoned. There was a cessation of hostilities, except heavy 
skirmishing, from this time to the 18th (May). The rain 
rendered roads almost impassable, yet neither army was idle 
The Federals were pressed close up againsl the Confederate works 
and intrenched. Keconnoitering continued to discover some weak 
points in the Confederate line that would give promise of success 
if attacked, but every move of this kind found the enemy ever 
watchful and on the alert ; force was met by force al every 
threatened point. Lee seemed to anticipate every move and held 
:i sufficient force behind strong works, which he continued to 
strengthen by the construction of abatis and slashed timber in 

front of his line of int lvnrhincnts, and made himself strong enough, 
at every point, to repel any attack. His line had been >oine\\ hat 

contracted after the engagement of the 12th. The time had come 
when he seemed to realize that an attack from him would prove 
disastrous and utterly ruinous, and that the only course left for 

him was in an obstinate defence, hoping that in time the hammer 
tnighl break instead of the anvil. 

The lines were ao close i" each other that a general move on 

either side would soon he detected liy the other. Every man who 



SPOTTSYLYANIA COURT HOUSE. 89 

was rash enough to expose himself was sure to draw the fire of 
the enemy's sharpshooters, who were posted in trees and concealed 
by the foliage, frequently changing their positions, as the smoke 
of their rifles would indicate their whereabouts. These men were 
usually posted at a considerable distance in rear and armed with 
long range rifles, provided with telescope sights. They fired with 
great accuracy. Orders were issued on the 17th for a combined 
attack by the Second, Sixth and Ninth Corps, the attack to be 
made from the works captured on the 12th, the Fifth Corps to 
act in support of the movement and open fire with all its artillery. 
The concentration commenced after dark the 17th, and by day- 
light of the 18th the troops were in position and advanced to the 
attack under the fire of thirty pieces of artillery, which swept the 
approaches to the rebel lines. Under a heavy fire of musketry 
the force bravely pushed on and made several attempts to gain 
the enemy's works, but were unsuccessful and finally the attack 
was ordered discontinued. Our loss was greater than that of the 
enemy, as they did not advance from their intrenchments. In 
this engagement the Fifty-Seventh and Fifty-Ninth Massachusetts, 
together with the 4th and 10th U.S. Infantry (Regulars) , were 
pushed out to reconnoiter the Confederate position, and suffered 
considerable loss, that of the Fifty-Seventh being three enlisted 
men killed and fifteen wounded. Afterwards the Ninth Corps 
made a demonstration upon the enemy's left which also proved 
fruitless. 

Chaplain Dashiel describes this affair as follows: " I stood 
on the hill where Roemer's battery had been intrenched and where 
General Burnside had his headquarters, and which the rebel 
batteries soon discovered and made so hot that they were obliged 
to remove, one of the staff having been severely wounded. But, 
while our batteries were playing the infantry dashed across the 
intervening space to find an impervious obstruction from the 
rebel abatis and nothing was gained." 

Private Truman Squires of Co. B, killed May 17th. 

The following are the names of the killed and wounded in the 
engagement of May 18th, viz. : — 



90 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Henry E. Cobleigh, 
Joseph White, 



Antonio Joan, 
Waldo Sherwin, 
Peter Busier, 
John Newton, 
John Neylon, 
( lharles A Bates, 
Stephen F. Bush, 
Hen j. Cok.y. 
Charles F. Pike, 



KILLED. 

l'vt. Co. 1) George H. Stowe, 
Corp. Co. H 



Pvt. Co. K 





WOUNDED. 








Sergt. 


Co. B 


Asa Thompson, 




Pvt. Co. 


E 


Pvt. 


Co. C 


Frederick Sonlie, 
Michael Bowen, 
Isaac Bowen, 




Co. 
Corp. Co. 
Pvt. 


G 
H 


» 


" 


James P. Brooks, 




Sergt. Co. 


K 


» 


Co. D 


Lowell Daniels. 




Pvt. 


' 


" 


" 


(Mortally wounded. Died 




" 


Co. E 


same 


daj 


••) 





Ad incident is related of Waldo Sherwin of Company C, 
Fifty-Seventh, who during this engagement, having seemed an 
advanced position and sheltering himself behind a tree, annoyed 
the rebel artillerists. Concentrating his fire upon one piece of 
artillery, he drove the Confederates from it several times and was 
only driven from his work by a severe wound in his right arm, 
received from a sharpshooter who contrived to Hank him. 

It became evident now that no front attack would succeed, 
and preparations were again made for " swinging around the 
circle." During the nighl of the 18th the Ninth Corps was moved 
to the left of the Sixth and both were pushed up as near the 
enemy's works as possible without making an attack. The Ninth 
( 'orps made lecoiinoissanees on the 20th in the direction of Smith's 
and Stannard's mills on the Ny and l'o. Everything was in 
readiness for a general move by tin' left Sank on the 19th, but 

General Lee evidently discovered or anticipated it, and assuming 
that the Federal righl wing must necessarily become weakened by 

such a move, sent General Ewell's Corps to attack it. This posi- 
tion was held by the Fifth Corps (Warren). Genera] Ewell, after 
makings detour of several miles, came upon the Federal troops 
unawares and made a vigorous attack with a force of about six 

thousand men, but was defeated with a loss of about nine hundred 
killed, wounded and prisoners. The only effect this attack had, 

was to delay the movemenl by the flank for another day. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 91 

Iii this engagement the Fourth Division of the Ninth Corps, 
composed of colored troops, rendered excellent service in pro- 
tecting the wagon trains, which, at one time, were in considerable 
danger. This was the first experience of many of the enlisted 
men of the colored division under fire. 

The dead were buried upon the field and all the sick and 
wounded sent to Fredericksburg and from there to Northern 
hospitals. The Army of the Potomac was reinforced by several 
thousand veteran troops, while General Lee's army was also rein- 
forced by the troops under General Breckenridge, who had just 
defeated Siegel in the Shenandoah valley, and by Pickett's Divi- 
sion from the vicinity of Petersburg, which could be spared after 
General Butler had been carefully " bottled" at Bermuda Hun- 
dred. These reinforcements reached the Confederate army in 
time to participate in the engagement which took place at the 
North Anna river, May 24th. 

The great "flanking" or "turning" movement was again 
resumed on the 21st of May. The bloody battle of Spottsylvania 
Court House had finally closed. The Fifty-Seventh, with the rest 
of the army, left their footprints stamped in blood, thus sealiug 
their devotion to duty and love of country. 

The following letter, giving an account of events which 
have already been referred to, will, no doubt, add interest to what 
has already been mentioned. It was written by Captain, then 
Lieutenant, George E. Barton, of the Fifty-Seventh, and kindly 
furnished with other papers by Mr. J. Brainerd Hall, formerly of 
Company B : — 

Headquarters First Division, Ambulance Corps, 
Ninth Army Corps, 
Near Fredericksburg, Va., May 19th, 1864. 
Deai: .... 

We have had some fearful fighting, have lost a great many men in 
killed, wounded and missing. The Fifty-Seventh is used up. We only 
muster 270 fighting men in line of battle .... 

Our corps, the Ninth, moved this morning; where to I do not know, 
but I shall be with them tonight. My ambulance train has been convey- 
ing wounded men of our division, the First, to Fredericksburg for the 
last three days. All the houses there are used for hospitals. The amount 



92 I [FTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

of suffering endured there in one day is incalculable. How I pity the 
noble fellows ! for they bear their wounds without a grumble. 

On our first day's tight at the Wilderness, when I asked the boys 
about their wounds, they all seemed cheerful. They asked about Colonel 
Bartlett, inquiring if be was badly wounded, and when I told them 
"slightly wounded." they seemed very well satisfied. Our lieutenant- 
colonel (Chandler) has won for himself the respect and love of the whole 
regiment by his cool and daring behavior in the various fights in which 
we have already been engaged. He seems to bear a charmed life. 

The Fifty-Seventh stands very high and will do so until not a man 
is left .... 

The citizens of Worcester, in their anxiety for the welfare of 
the soldiers from that city and county, sent Messrs. Absirus and 
J. Stewart Brown to Washington and the front (May, 1864 ), for 
the purpose of rendering aid and comfort, especially to the sick 
and wounded. Two better men could hardly have been selected, 
of warm, genial dispositions and sympathetic natures. 

The following letter was written by them and published in 
the Worcester Spy of May 30th, 1864, a copy of which was 
retained and kindly furnished by Mr. J. Brainerd Hall. 

Washington, D.C., May 26th, L864 
Dear ... . : 

Over one thousand badly wounded soldiers bave been taken oil' from 
boats today, and among them are a tew Massachusetts boys. 

The Steamer State of Maine has 403, Columbus 277, Wawasei L79, 
Young America 200, making an aggregate of 1,051). The last-named 
boat, after reaching here, was ordered to proceed to Alexandria and then- 
unload. Some of the buys bearing this order, murmured considerably 
and <aid they hail had enough of Virginia. Amongst the number on the 
Columbus we found Private Charles Fitch of Company II, Fifty-Seventh, 
.1 Worcester buy. who was wounded in both legs. We procured some 
men who carried him on a stretcher to Army Square Hospital, it being 

\ei-\ painful to him to be moved much. We Learned from him of the 

death of Samuel Lovering of his company. 

Private Albert C. Bills of the Fifty-Seventh, whom we mentioned in 
a previous letter as being at Fredericksburg, Lying in the pulpil of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church, ha- arrived at Alexandria, where we -aw 
him yesterday and. bj a funny coincidence, is also in a church there. He 

is in t he body o i' i in- church, being in the position of a parishioner, having 
descended somewhat from his former station. He is doing verj well 

and hopes to go home soon. 



SPOTTSYLVAXIA COURT HOUSE. 93 

Having had inquiry as to Abraham Luchay, Company F, Fifty- 
Seventh, we would say that he was not wounded in either of the battles 
and went forward with his regiment. 

Quite a number of the Fifty-Seventh are at Alexandria, and before 
we return home we intend to take as complete a list as we can of all our 
men and the hospitals in which they are placed. 

Some very fine buildings at Alexandria are filled with wounded 
soldiers, and every place for accommodation is nearly filled. 

The hospitals in the city are rapidly filling with the accessions daily 
arriving, and being mostly bad cases, many operations have been per- 
formed within two or three days. 

There have been more opportunities for assisting wounded soldiers 
for the past two or three days than at any time before. Some desire to 
be lifted from their beds, others wishing drink or eatables, and others to 
whom a word of comfort is consoling. 

To a stranger, who has seen but little of real suffering, the manner 
of those who have charge of the wounded seems anything but kind and 
attentive ; but, on getting accustomed to these scenes, there is such a 
thing as getting hardened to it. Many become so tired of lying in bed 
that they beg you to take them off. Some cry for fresh air, as though 
suffocating, and in fact, everything connected forms a state of things 
which appears to some terrible. The report is that some of the sick and 
wounded will be taken to Port Royal, and that Fredericksburg is entirely 
vacated by our forces. Boats are hourly expected from the latter, and 
hundreds are waiting for them. 

Friday Noon, May 27th, 1864. 

Up to this hour no boats with wounded have arrived, and we learn 
from a gentleman just arrived from Fredericksburg that everybody has 
left there, and if any more hospital boats come to Washington they will 
be from Port Royal. 

Lieutenants Bowman, Dewey and Ward of the Fifty-Seventh left 
this morning for Port Royal on the steamer Ocean Wave, with the inten- 
tion of joining their regiment. They were accompanied by forty other 
officers of different regiments who have recovered from slight wounds 
or sickness. 

We intend going to Alexandria again this afternoon and render 
assistance if required. 

It has sometimes been said that promises were made by those 
who did not go to the war to induce men to enlist, which were 
afterwards forgotten, the soldiers neglected and their families left 
to suffer. AVhatever may be said of other places, this is not true 



94 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

of the people of Worcester. They did make promises, but they 
more than fulfilled every promise made. Their outstretched arms 
were extended to distant battlefields, and their fostering care 
reached every sick or wounded soldier from Worcester. Not only 
those, but very many others are indebted to them for acts of 
kindness and generosity, while no instance can be mentioned 
where they permitted the families of those who were bravely doing 
battle for their country to suffer for the comforts of life, where 
such cases were brought to their notice. The same can be said of 
the noble old State of Massachusetts. Her lofty spirit of patri- 
otism kept watch and ward over her faithful, loyal sons who were 
absent in the army, and their dependent friends at home. More 
has been done than ever was promised. 

NN'hile the old soldiers stand ever loyal and devoted to our 
National Government and its flag, yet there is an enduring love 
for our mother State that has elevated them to positions of honor 
and trust, and stands ever ready to keep her plighted faith with 
the brave soldiers she sent into the service of the United States. 
" God bless the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.'' The people 
throughout the country also organized Sanitary and Christian 
Commissions, which did almost as much for our sick and wounded 
soldiers as did the general government. 



*M^** !~M***r 





JULIUS M. TUCKER, 

Lieut. -Col. 57th Mass., Bvt. Col. U.S. Vols. 



CHAPTER VI. 




NORTH ANNA RIVER. 

HERE seemed to be a great fondness among the old 
Virginians for naming their towns and rivers in the 
feminine gender. Only three weeks had elapsed since 
we had crossed the " Rapid Ann," which, one might 
suppose, was a polite way of speaking of what, in 
modern parlance, might be called a "fast" young lady, 
although her manner was quite becoming as we saw her. 
Now we were again rivals for the smiles and favors of her twin 
sister, North Anna, who was as cold as her name might imply, 
and rather gave us the cold shoulder in favor of our more suc- 
cessful rival. There was another named South Anna whose 
acquaintance we did not make. 

Again, in pursuance of the general plan of the campaign, 
orders were issued May 20th, 1864, for moving the Army of the 
Potomac from the vicinity of Spottsylvania Court House to cut 
General Lee's army from Richmond. The Second Corps was 
directed to move soon after dark, by way of Guinea Station and 
Bowling Green to Milford Station, about twenty miles, and take 
position on the right bank of the Mattapony, and to attack the 
enemy wherever found. The Fifth Corps was ordered to move 
on the morning of the 21st, to Massaponax Church and from 
there south by the telegraph road, crossing the Ny at Smith's 
mill, the Po at Staimard's mill and from there south via Thorn- 
burg. 

The Ninth Corps was ordered to follow the Fifth over the 
same route, while the Sixth Corps was ordered to concentrate at 
what was known as the Gayle House, being a commanding posi- 
tion south of the Ny and about one and a half miles east of 



90 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Spottsylvania Court House, with the object of detaining the 
enemy in position as long as possible and covering the movements 
of the other three corps. It will be observed that each corps 
moved separately, and, at first, directly east, afterwards to the 
south. 

The Second Corps moved as directed, crossing the Matta- 
pony with but little opposition, captured a few prisoners and took 
possession of the wagon and railroad bridges there, the latter on 
the Richmond and Fredericksburg railroad. While this move- 
ment was in process of execution by the Second Corps, the other 
three made a demonstration of force in front of the enemy to 
retain, if possible, his main army there and thus give General 
Hancock time to gain and hold position with the Second Corps 
until the arrival of the three above mentioned; but General Lee 
learned of this movement and moved Ewell's Corps around to his 
right and posted it on the south bank of the Po at Stannard's 
mill. The Fifth Corps commenced the march at ten o'clock the 
morning of the 21st. General Warren's orders were changed so 
as to direct him on Guinea Station, where he crossed the Xy and 
moved towards Madison's store, bivouacking for the nighl at Cat- 
lett's. The march was only opposed by small bodies of Confed- 
erate cavalry. The order was further changed so that the Sixth 
was to follow the Ninth. The Confederate corps of A. P. Hill 
remained in the trenches around Spottsylvania, as did also the 
Sixth and Ninth Corps of the Federal army up to the night of 
the 21st. During the day the brigade to which the Fifty-Seventh 
belonged. First Brigade, First Division of the Ninth Corps, made a 
sortie upon the enemy as a covering movement. The Sixth Corps 
was to b>ll<>w, but it was attacked by Hill's Corps, the attack 
only being made for the purpose of ascertaining what force was 
Opposed to him and was easily repulsed with but little loss to 

either side. The advance of the Second Corps, followed by the 
Fifth, being well underway towards North Anna river, the sixth 

and Ninth abandoned their works that nighl (.May -'1st), and 

proceeded bj the route heretofore specified also towards the North 

Anna. Hill's Corps nio\ed at the same time, and. having a 

shorter line to march by, gained the objective point first. 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 97 

That General Lee was advised of the movements of the Army 
of the Potomac will appear from the following telegram sent by 
him to the Confederate Secretary of War. This has been copied 
from Gen. A. A. Humphreys' "Virginia Campaign of '64 and 
'65 " and reads as follows : 

Spottsylvania Court House, 

8.40 a.m., May 21st, 1864. 
Hon. J. A. Seddon, 

Secretary of War : 
The enemy is apparently again changing his base. Three (3) gun- 
boats came up to Port Royal two days since. This morning an infantry 
force appeared at Guinea's. His cavalry advance at Downer's Bridge on 
Bowling Green road. He is apparently placing the Mattapony between 
us, and will probably open communication with Port Royal. I am ex- 
tending on the telegraph road and will regulate my movements by the 
information .... of his route. I fear will secure him from attack 
until he crosses the Pamunky. 

R. E. Lee. 

General Humphreys makes the following note: "This tele- 
gram was in cipher. The part apparently confidential is omitted 
in the translation. The last sentence should probably read ' I 
fear it will secure him ' etc., . . . . — A. A. H." 

The whole Army of the Potomac was again on the march, 
following a general line by the Richmond and Fredericksburg 
railroad and directed on three fords of the North Anna, viz. : 
Jericho, Oxford and Chesterfield (Taylor's Bridge). General 
Lee's army was posted on the right bank opposite and was again 
strongly intrenched. 

The North Anna is a stream of considerable importance, 
having a rapid, eddying current, and difficult to ford at any time ; 
the bottom is very rocky, with high, precipitous banks which were 
heavily wooded. The Second Corps was to cross at Chesterfield 
Bridge, the Fifth at Jericho, four miles above, where it crossed 
with but little opposition on the morning of the 23d, when it was 
immediately attacked by two divisions of A. P. Hill's corps, 
which gained considerable temporary advantage, but were 
eventually repulsed with the loss of several hundred prisoners. 



98 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

The crossing of the Second Corps was vigorously opposed 
from a redan battery on the north bank of the river in front of 
the bridge. This was charged and carried by General Birney's 
division, after which the whole corps crossed by the bridge on the 
morning of the 24th. 

The Sixth Corps crossed the river that morning and joined 
the Fifth. The two wings of the army were now safely across 
the river and confronting the enemy, but they were not connected. 
It was intended that the Ninth Corps should cross at Oxford and 
make this connection. The Confederate army was posted with 
its centre well forward, near the river, and the two wings thrown 
back. It is mentioned as being " wedge shaped," with the point 
of the wedge opposite Oxford, where the Ninth Corps was to 
cross. On the afternoon of May 24th, 1864, the First Division 
of the Ninth Corps, under command of General Crittenden, ap- 
proached the river at Quarles' Mill, about one and a half miles 
above Oxford. The First Brigade, to which the Fifty-Seventh 
belonged, led the way in wading the river. The water was so 
deep in places that the men had to throw their cartridge boxes 
across their shoulders to keep the ammunition from getting wet. 
It was slow work floundering over the slippery rocks and through 
the whirling eddies, but the crossing was made without opposi- 
tion. A skirmish line was immediately thrown forward on the 
opposite bank of the river. The brigade was halted for about 
five minutes to allow the men who had removed their shoes in 
undiiig the river to put them on again, and the others to empty 
the water from their shoes and wring out their stockings. All 
were soaking wet up to their armpits, and in this condition the 
line was formed and moved forward before the other brigades had 
ellecled a crossing. The 35th Massachusetts was deployed as 
skirmishers and preceded the advance through a heavy wood. 

followed by the 56th, 57th and 59th Massachusetts, and the Itli 
and Huh U.S. Infantry. The enemy's skirmish line was soon 
encountered and driven in. After proceeding about one-half 
or three-fourths of a mile in this way, the line emerged from 

the thiek woods, and lipOD a high, semicircular shaped ridge of 
hills, about eight hundred yards beyond, a Confederate battery 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 99 

could be seen, well protected by earthworks and strongly sup- 
ported by infantry. The brigade commander was full of fight 
and was desirous of taking hold at once, before the other troops 
could come up, and then he would not have to make a division of 
the anticipated glory. Yet he thought he needed a little more 
strengthening. He therefore called upon an officer of the Fifty- 
Seventh, who was the only officer at the time with his company, 
to return with all possible haste to General Crittenden, command- 
ing the division, with the following verbal message: "Give my 
compliments to General Crittenden and tell him that there is a 
rebel battery in my front ; ask him to please send me three regi- 
ments immediately, one on my right, one on my left and the other 
in rear for support, and I will charge and capture it." 

The bearer of the message was not a staff officer, was wholly 
unknown to General Crittenden and knew not where to find him, 
yet he followed the direction as near as he could back to the ford, 
and by good fortune, went directly to him and delivered the 
message. The General looked somewhat surprised that this 
singular request had not come through one of the brigade staff, 
and at first seemed a little suspicious ; but after a few questions 
and becoming satisfied with the identity of the officer, he directed 
him to return immediately with this verbal reply, which, in sub- 
stance, is correct, and in words as near as can be remembered : 
" Go back to General immediately. Give him my com- 
pliments and tell him I have not the regiments to spare. The 
division is not across the river yet. Tell him my orders are not 
to charge." As the messenger turned around and started to 
return, General Crittenden called him back and modified the order 

about as follows : ' ' Tell General not to charge unless he 

sees a sure thing where he can capture a battery not well sup- 
ported ; to use the utmost caution. Tell him that I have informa- 
tion that seems reliable, that the enemy is posted in force in his 
front, and if he charges I am afraid it will be a failure and result 
in bringing on a serious engagement which we are in no condition 
to meet now, as a large part of my division is still on the other 
side of the river with the rest of the corps ; tell him to use the 
utmost caution." 



100 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



In returning with this answer the bearer took a course further 
to the right, which, when he reached the open in front of the 
wood, brought him on higher ground from where he could get a 
better view of the position of the enemy than from where the 
brigade was formed. From there he could see other batteries in 
position, with a strong line of infantry intrenchments, while over 
and beyond could be seen clouds of dust which indicated that a 
large force was hastening towards the threatened point of attack ; 
while down to the left he saw the brigade drawn out in front of 
the wood, its commander making ready for the charge without 
waiting an answer to the request for reinforcements, without 
knowing whether they were coming or not, or what was in front 
or behind him. He hastened to the brigade and endeavored to 
deliver General Crittenden's orders, but in the excited state of 
mind in which he found the commanding officer, it is doubtful if 
he heard, or if he did, that he understood one word or cared a 
" continental." 

It has long been a matter of mental debate whether, at this 
late day, the truth in regard to this affair should be told or not ; 
whether, as long as there is no remedy for it now, it should not 
be smoothed over and made to appear in a favorable light ; but 
justice to the memory of those brave men who fell upon that 
bloody field and our own sense of duty, prompts us to tell the 
truth as we saw it. 

The black lowering clouds Avhich had gathered and were fast 
approaching from the west indicated that a heavy shower was 
about to fall. On the return a well-known officer was met, being 
carried oul by some men, hors-de-combat from chronic sunstroke, 
although it w:is cloudy at the time. His frantic gesticulations 
disclosed bis eagerness to grapple with the Confederate army Bin- 
gle handed, bul the unfortunate sunstroke had prostrated him; 
only for this the war would have been closed that very day. The 
condition of affairs did Dot give promise, to those who realized 
the situation, of a very great victory. The men had been re- 
quired to remove their knapsacks and all other impedimenta to 
their rapid progress across the open space thai intervened between 
the line and the objective battery. The General was inspired 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 101 

with that artificial courage known throughout the army as ' ' Dutch 
courage," the quantity of which seemed to be sufficient to sustain 
him through this or any other trying ordeal, but the quality was 
not of the enduring kind. A diminutive officer of his staff had 
evidently become inspired with the same enthusiasm and was 
standing boldly out to the front with a small-sized Smith & Wes- 
son revolver in his right hand, firing wildly towards the rebel 
battery, about eight hundred yards distant. It has never been 
learned what damage he did ; at all events, the battery did not 
surrender. The brigade was finally launched out like a thunder- 
bolt from the dark, threatening clouds from which the rain was 
just beginning to descend. The General led in person. His 
courage had just the right poise and there was no knowing how 
long it would stay or when it would be there again. He must, 
therefore, make the most of its present condition. What was 
true of Tarn O'Shanter a hundred years ago seemed equally true 
in this case : 

" Inspiring bold John Barleycorn ! 

What clangers thou canst make us scorn ! 

Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil, 

Wi' usquebae we'll face the devil ! " 

After proceeding a short distance all semblance of a line 
became lost. It was just a wild tumultuous rush where the more 
reckless were far to the front and the cautious ones scattered 
along back, but still coming on. Many of the Confederate soldiers 
stood upon their breastworks and called out in a tantalizing man- 
ner, — " Come on, Yank, come on to Richmond." A tall, cadav- 
erous looking officer of the Ninth Corps staff was also in the 
procession. Placing his hat upon the point of his sword he held 
it above his head and danced around in evident glee. A rebel 
sharpshooter playfully sent a bullet through the hat, but gener- 
ously spared the officer for a future occasion. On went the 
furious charge until the guns of the battery became visible. 
Musketry fire was opened upon the assailants and men began to 
fall. The Fifty-Seventh colors went down as the color ser- 
geant was hit, but they quickly came up and the brave Karpeles 
again went forward with them, although badly wounded. Colonel 



102 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Chandler endeavored to take the colors from him and send him 
back, but he clung to them and continued far in the advance, 
until, weakened from loss of blood, he was obliged to pass them 
into other hands and fall to the rear. We had almost reached the 
silent batteries, when suddenly every gun flashed out a shower of 
grape and canister which shook the very ground and swept every- 
thing in front. Beneath the clouds of rising smoke the Confeder- 
ate infantry could be seen rapidly advancing and closing in from 
the right and left. The gallant charge went no farther, but 
turned into a complete rout. A further advance meant simply to 
rush into the jaws of death or a surrender. The only hope lay in 
a hasty retreat. Colonel Chandler fell mortally wounded. Cap- 
tain Prescott, Sergt. E. D. McFarland and one or two others 
endeavored to raise and carry him from the field, but it was too 
late. Raising one hand, he quietly motioned them to put him 
down, saying: " You can do nothing for me, save yourselves if 
you can." He fell into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Harris of 
the 12th Mississippi communicated the fact that he survived some 
hours a iter the battle. He generously cared for him and sent 
tidings of his death, together with his watch, money, diary and a 
photograph of a young lady to our lines, under a flag of truce, to 
be forwarded to his bereaved mother. 

Incidents like this were of such rare occurrence during the 
bitter strife that one may well pause to notice it. If the South 
had possessed more such men, their cause would not have been 
stained with the records of Fort Pillow and Andersonville. Such 
noble characters do honor even to a bad cause. 

But, resuming the narrative, the charge that had been made 
with so little regard to military order, now became a confused and 
demoralized Bight. The Genera] gave no order and math' no 
attempt to rally. Such an effort would have been utterly futile, 

even it' be had been in a disposition to undertake it. Every man 

became bis own general, while the receding tide scattered and 
disappeared in the wood from which the charge bad been made. 
\b-n were falling al every step, We well remember one brave 
young boy of eighteen years, William Anthony of Leicester, a 
member of Company E, who fell never to rise again. The 



o 

O 

£ H 





NORTH ANNA RIVER. 103 

scattered brigade fled with due haste, back to the river at a 
point below where it had previously crossed. By this time it was 
getting dark and the rain was pouring in torrents. Looking down 
into the deep, black waters in rear and the charging enemy in 
front, presented rather a gloomy appearance to a defeated, 
demoralized body of men without head or guidance. Several 
officers attempted to make a rally upon the river's bank, but it 
was of no use. Following the General up the river, as they had 
followed him in the charge, the remainder of the division was 
found. Having effected a crossing, and hearing the heavy firing 
in front, they had thrown up a hasty defence of logs and branches, 
behind which the badly beaten First Brigade was glad to take 
refuge and help to check the advancing charge of the enemy. 
The night was intensely dark and rainy, yet men worked hard 
constructing defensive works from fallen timber, while the 
whizzing shots continued to rattle through the branches of the 
trees ; and thus ended the battle of North Anna, in which 
the Fifty-Seventh regiment lost Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler and 
nine enlisted men killed, Lieut. Charles H. Royce and twelve 
enlisted men wounded and thirteen enlisted men missing, making 
a total loss of two officers and thirty-four enlisted men. Of the 
missing, many were killed or subsequently died in Confederate 
prisons. The names are here given below : — 

KILLED. 

Thomas Burke, Pvt. Co. B Henry L. Park, Corp. Co. H 

Amos P. Newton, " " Patrick H. Manville, Pvt. 

Thomas Curley, " Co. U Thomas Conway, " Co. I 

William H. Anthony, " Co. E David Sancomb, ll " 

Richard Mulstead, " Co. G 

ENLISTED MEN WOUNDED. 

Julius Dougall, Pvt. Co. D Thomas Conners, Pvt. Co. H 

Jacob Kirby, " " Phineas L. Holbrook, " " 

Joseph E. Lapoint. " Co. E Thomas J. Tourtellott, " " 

Joseph Horton, " Co. G Leopold Karpeles, Col.-Sergt. Co. I 

(Died June 2d, 1864, at Joseph W. Barnes, Pvt. Co. K 

Washington, D.C.) Henry L. Gill, " 

Ira B. Bullard, Corp. Co. H Wesley F. Hayward, " " 

(Died May 24th, 1864) 



104 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



ENLISTED MEN MISSINd. 



I). Landon, Pvt. Co. A Edwin R. Reed, Pvt. Co. D 

William Mooher, " " (Supposed to have been killed.) 

Daniel O'Connor, " " Michael McCarty, Pvt. Co E 

Antonio Phillips, lI Co. B John A. Paine, " Co. H 

(Died at Andersonville, (Died Sept. 15th, 1864, at 

July 27th, 1864.) Andersonville, Ga.) 

Lyman Bryant, Pvt. Co. D Edward A. Walton, Pvt. Co. H 

(Died in Andersonville, (Died at Andersonville, 

July 27th, 1864.) Aug. 10th, 1864.) 

John E. Hinton, Pvt. Co. D Amasa R. Bullock, Pvt. Co. I 

Egbert S. Jacquins, " " Herbert 0. Smith, " Co. K 

(Died in Andersonville, (Died of wounds, May 24th, 1864.) 
Aug. 15th, 1864.) 

The description given of this engagement is a correct one, 
as witnessed by those who were present, and is not imaginary. 
Nothing whatever was accomplished, except a needless slaughter, 
which had a disheartening effect upon the men ; the humiliation 
of defeat and the complete loss of all confidence in the brigade 
commander who was wholly responsible, a loss which was never 
regained through the course of future events. When men are 
called upon to make such sacrifices they do not like to feel that 
they are entirely thrown away through a blind, temporary courage 
of an incompetent leader. Yet this was not an exceptional case ; 
there were many such during the war which historians have treated 
with too much charity. 

Looking at the affair in the light of after years, it presents 
no new features. The result was as apparent before as after the 
charge ; the nearer the brigade approached, the plainer could be 
seen the frowning batteries, the strong breastworks and the large 
force we were attacking. The fact was, a decimated brigade, 
wholly unsupported ami poorly commanded, was assailing the 
enemy with batteries in position, supported by a strongly in- 
trenched Line of infantry. It did, however, develop noble traits 
in the character of those men who obeyed orders without a mur- 
mur and went forward in this desperate charge with a patriotic 
devotion to duty. Such men, intelligently commanded, could be 
relied upon in any emergency. Their deeds are none the less 




* £t* 0«S 




CHARLES LYON CHANDLER. 



LIEUT. COLONEL 57TH MASS. 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 105 

worthy on account of disaster than they would have been through 
the plaudits of victory. 

A letter written by Chaplain Dashiell to Miss Andrew soon 
after this engagement, reads as follows: "About noon we re- 
ceived the order to move and I rode with the Colonel at the head 
of the column. A mile or two of marching brought us to the 
North Anna, which we were to wade. It was a shallow stream, 
filled with large stones and some deep holes. He rode over safely. 
Two other horsemen got beyond their depth and soon I came 
over dry shod. We had some pleasantry about the passage and 
I was pleased to find him in such a fine flow of spirits. He had 
picked up a belt containing a revolver and bayonet, which had 
been lost by some luckless soldier, and taking the revolver, he 
jokingly offered the bayonet to some of the boys then passing. 
We passed up the bank and on the level above he formed the 
regiment in line of battle and pushed on at the head of his men. 
Soon the roar of battle quickened our preparations for the 
wounded and they began to come in after a few moments, and 
rumors came of the Colonel's wound and then of his abandonment 
on the field .... 

" The color sergeant (Karpeles) was shot when our regiment 
was overborne by the masses of the rebels, and went to the rear 
only when Colonel Chandler insisted upon it. There was a rumor 
that night in the hospital that the corporal who had the colors 
having been killed, the Colonel seized them and was killed in con- 
sequence. There was no ground for the rumor, but the poor 
fellow was inconsolable. All night long he charged himself with 
the death of his 'dear colonel,' because he had left the field. 

Colonel Chandler has left a record in the hearts of his regi- 
ment and upon the pages of his country's history, which might 
gratify the ambition of any man." 

Lieut. -Col. Charles L. Chandler was the eldest son of 
T. P. Chandler, Assistant Treasurer of the United States, at Bos- 
ton. When the war broke out he enlisted in the 1st Massachu- 
setts, at the age of twenty-one. He was mustered into the United 
States service as 2d lieutenant of Company A, May 25th, 18(51, 
promoted to 1st lieutenant in the same regiment, March 21st, 



106 



FIFTY-SEYEXTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



1862, and with that regiment, participated in the battle of Bull 
Run and Blackburn's Ford, serving throughout the Peninsula 
Campaign with distinguished bravery. Aug. 6th, 1862, he was 
again mustered into the service as captain in the 34th Massachu- 
setts. April 20th, 1864, he became lieutenant-colonel of the 
Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts, vice Edward P. Hollister who had 
previously resigned. His whole military career was marked by a 
fine sense of houor and loyal devotion to duty. Rarely has any 
man of his age acquitted himself so nobly, winning praise from 
his superiors and the love and respect of all who knew him. His 
private character stood without a blemish, aud his example, in all 
respects, is well worthy of emulation. 

In a private letter written by General Bartlett, under date of 
June 14th, 1864, while absent in Washington, wounded, he speaks 
of the regiment and Colonel Chandler as follows : "I heard from 
the regiment today. It has a good reputation throughout the 
corps. All speak of Colonel Chandler's splendid bravery and 
coolness." 

The conduct of the regiment in this battle was noticed by a 
correspondent at the time, who says : "We were at first under 
greal apprehension that the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, a new 
regiment, on the left of the 100th Pennsylvania, would give back, 
and if they did, Ave were lost. Colonel Leasure assumed control of 
them and I heard him say ' they fought like lions.' It wns well 
they did, for all on their left gave way, and, if our line gave way, 
the fate of the day would have been against us." 

With all due respect to this correspondent and the gallant 
Colonel Leasure, the author of these pages, who was present 
throughout the whole engagement in command of a company of 
the Fifty-Seventh, and in a position to know something about who 
its commander was, fails to remember any such "control" or to 
observe where " the fate of the day " was al all in our favor. 

The engagement relleeted credit upon the troops engaged 
without distinction of regiments, but it was distressing to think 
thai nothing had been accomplished. 

The condition of affairs at the river did not give promise of 
any successful movement upon the enemy. The heavy rain had 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 107 

caused the water to rise until it was impossible to again ford it. 
The only way of securing the safety of our wounded was by ferry- 
ing them across the stream on hastily constructed rafts, with 
momentary expectations of another attack from the enemy with a 
force which would have completely overwhelmed us. If General 
Lee had known the true condition of affairs at this point, on the 
south bank of the river, there is little doubt but he would 
have made the attack. With the two wings of the Federal army 
so widely separated, succor could not have been obtained in time 
to avert a still greater disaster than the one already experienced. 

All through that dark, rainy night tireless men were working 
the rafts to and fro across the fast swelling stream. By morning 
of the next day all the wounded were over and in a place of 
safety. Many had passed to a place of eternal safety beyond the 
silent river, and the battle of North Anna river was closed. 

There are many names that deserve special mention. Many 
who were captured died as martyrs to the cause they had espoused 
in the prison pen of Andersonville. 

Corp. Ira B. Bullard of Sutton, a member of Company H, 
and who belonged to the color guard, was badly wounded and 
subsequently died in Mount Pleasant General Hospital, Washing- 
ton, D.C. He was a young man of excellent character, and pos- 
sessed the confidence and esteem of his superior officers. The 
following letter in relation to him will, no doubt, be read with 
interest by his friends and former comrades. 

Headquarters Co. C, Fifty-Seventh. 

In the field near Pegram's Farm, Va. 
Oct. 23d, 1864. 
Dear .... 

In reply to your inquiries about Ira B. Bullard, I will state that he 
was wounded in action May 24th, at the battle of North Anna river, and 
afterwards died of wounds in hospital at Washington. I took him from 
the field in one of my ambulances. I was attached to the ambulance 
train at that time .... I had quite a long talk yesterday with Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Tucker about Ira. The Colonel, you know, formerly com- 
manded Co. H. He said that Ira proved himself to be an excellent 
soldier, both cool and plucky in a fight and always faithful when on duty. 
The Colonel, in speaking of his conduct in the battle of the Wilderness, 



108 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

relates a circumstance illustrative of his coolness under Are. His rifle 
having become so foul that he was unable to discharge it, he quietly took 
his wrench from his cartridge box, unscrewed the cone upon which the 
caps are placed, took his primer and cleaned it out, then screwed it on 
again and blazed away; all this under a heavy Are of musketry from the 
"Johnnies." 

I have just been talking with the color sergeant. He says of 
Corporal Bullard : li He was the best corporal I had on the color guard, 
always in his place close to the colors. He fell fighting by the old flag, 
but gained the rear without assistance." A day or two before the fight 
at North Anna River, Corporal Bullard was quite sick and away from the 
regiment about half a day, but this did not suit him at all. He joined the 
color guard and went in with the regiment. Many men would have 
taken advantage of their sickness to remain in rear, but this was not his 
style. He made the remark to the color sergeant, when he joined the 
guard : " If I were only well I could do my duty, but I want to be with 
the regiment, wherever that is." 

(Signed) GEORGE E. BARTON. 

The Worcester Spy of Jan. 31st, 1865, notices the death 
of Edward A. Walton of Company H, Fifty-Seventh, who was 
reported among the missing in the battle of North Anna and 
pays the following tribute to his memory: "Another victim 
of cruel treatment .... Edward Alonzo Walton, Company H, 
Fifty-Seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. He was 
captured on the 25th of May last* and taken to Richmond, then 
to Andersonville in Georgia, where he remained three long, dreary 
months, in which lie suffered the utmost exposure and privations, 
which he bore with great patience in hopes of being released or 
exchanged by his government; but finding himself, with all the 
rest, abandoned to his Bad fate, with no other hope but starvation 
ami death the most cruel, he gave up in despair and resigned 
himself l«> his late, when on or about the 10th of August, 1861, 
lie died of cruel neglect, exposure and starvation. He was born 
in West Boylston, Oct. 2d, 1835, and was the sou of Gilderoy 
and Dolly Walton. He lias left a fond wife and child who, 
with his grief-stricken parents and brothers, mourn his sad and 
painful deal h." 

On the 21th of May, 1864, the Ninth Army Corps was in- 
corporated into the Army of the Potomac and remained m part of 

•8hould be 84th.— J. A. 



NORTH ANNA RIVER. 109 

it until the close of the war. This change was made at the sug- 
gestion of General Burnside who was willing to waive all consid- 
eration of rank and place himself under the command of 
General Meade. By this arrangement the Army of the Potomac 
became an unit and its movements made with fewer complications 
than had previously existed, where virtually two independent 
commands were awkwardly endeavoring to work in harmony with- 
out any real cohesion. 

The morning of the 25th found the two armies face to face, 
but no engagement took place save the constant firing along the 
line of pickets. The division (Crittenden's) was thrown forward, 
in connection with the Fifth Corps, under command of General 
Warren, to within a few hundred yards of the Confederate in- 
trenchments, in order to develop their strength and position. 
They were found well intrenched on high ground with a large 
force entirely too strong for attack with that under General 
Warren. In fact the advantage would have been more in favor 
of the Confederates had they made an attack upon the Federal 
force demonstrating against them, as they were in a position 
where concentration could have been quickly made, while the 
Federal force was so widely scattered that it could not have been 
brought together without crossing the river twice and having a 
much greater distance to march. Colonel Venable and Colonel 
Taylor of General Lee's staff state that an offensive move at this 
time was seriously contemplated by General Lee " had his army 
been of even reasonable proportion with that of his adversary." 
Surely the "proportion" against him was not unreasonable at 
this particular point where everything seemed in his favor and to 
invite an aggressive move upon his part. The chances were that 
he could, by rapid concentration, have thrown his whole force 
upon the right wing of the Federal army and either defeated or 
inflicted a great loss upon it before the left could have been brought 
up. More particularly would such a move seem imperative when, 
as has been stated, he was anticipating a demonstration upon his 
left flank. 

This part of the Confederate line was held by Hill's corps 
and Pickett's division that had recently joined from the vicinity 



110 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



of Petersburg, after the failure of the movement made by General 
Butler on the James river. The position held by the Army of 
the Potomac was wholly untenable. 

The dead were buried upon the field, ponton bridges were 
laid across the river, and for the third time in the history of this 
campaign, arrangements were being made for the great flank and 
turning movement. 

On the 26th the regiment crossed to the north side without 
molestation and again took up the line of march by the left 
flank in another effort to interpose between General Lee and 
Richmond. 

The regiment at this time lost the services of their fighting 
major, not by death, but by resignation. He turned from the 
bloody path of war to the quiet shades of peace, " beating his 
sword into a plowshare." Capt. Julius M. Tucker, commanding 
Company H, being the senior officer present, took command of 
the regiment and was subsequently promoted to the grade of 
major and mustered as such on the 14th of June following, later 
to the grade of lieutenant-colonel. 

The army had lost, according to the report of the medical 
director, from the 21st to the 20th of May, 2,100 in wounded. 
A tabular statement shows that between the 23d and 27th 
of May, the loss was: 223 killed, 1,400 wounded, and 290 
missing. 

Soon after the death of General Stevenson, General Critten- 
den arrived and was assigned to the command of the First Division 
of the Ninth Army Corps and retained it until after the battle of 
Cold Harbor. 



CHAPTER VII. 




COLD HARBOR. 

N the night of the 26th, the Ninth Corps was with- 
drawn from the south bank of the North Anna river, 
recrossing on ponton bridges covered with brush, 
without being discovered by the enemy. The pon- 
tons were immediately taken up and the march 
commenced towards the Pamunky river, about thirty-two 
miles distant. The infantry was preceded by two divi- 
sions of Sheridan's cavalry, followed by part of the Sixth Corps, 
towards Hanover Town. The Sixth and Second Corps were 
ordered to cross the Pamunky four miles above Hanover Town, 
and the Fifth, followed by the Ninth Corps, was to cross at that 
place. The regiment was now under command of Capt. J. M. 
Tucker. The march was continuous, day and night, via Shady 
Grove, until the river was reached and a crossing made about 
midnight of the 28th. 

The Pamunky is a narrow, sluggish stream, formed by the 
North and South Anna rivers and several creeks. Its banks are 
heavily wooded and generally low and swampy. The smaller 
streams have low, marshy banks. There were many roads that 
seemed to wind around in all directions, but none, except the Rich- 
mond stage road, were good, and that was only good in comparison. 
The march was a tiresome one, as the roads were muddy from the 
recent heavy rains. Some of them were found considerably below 
the surface of the ground. Through swamps, across creeks and 
over muddy roads, the march was continued until the regiment 
reached the vicinity of Hawes' shop on the morning of the 
29th, at which place the Ninth Corps was held in reserve, while 
the Second, Fifth and Sixth were ordered to make reconnoissance 



112 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

in force ; the Second in the direction of Richmond (to the south) ; 
the Fifth on the Shady Grove road and the Sixth towards Hanover 
Court House. The Sixth Corps met with onlj 7 small bodies of the 
enemy's cavalry, the Fifth crossed Totopotomy creek, on the 
Shady Grove Church road, and encountered only the Confederate 
pickets and vidette posts, which made no resistance but promptly 
fell back ; but the Second Corps (Hancock's) found the enemy 
strongly posted in his front on the south bank of the Totopotomy 
creek, where it is crossed by the direct road to Richmond. The 
Confederate force at this point was composed of the two corps of 
Early and Hill, with the force under General Breckenridge. The 
Confederate commander had discovered the withdrawal of the 
Army of the Potomac early on the morning of the 27th, and had 
moved, with great promptness, to again interpose between it and 
Richmond. Having the interior line to march by, the distance 
was not so great ; hence, he was able to anticipate his adversary 
and once more plant himself squarely in front to resist a further 
advance, also time to intrench and get his batteries into position ; 
in fact, with everything in readiness, so that it became plain that 
another desperate battle would have to be fought at this point, 
with no greater promise of success than the previous ones had 
presented, or the flank movement continued until a more favora- 
ble position could be gained. The former alternative was decided 
upon and arrangements made accordingly. The whole of the 
Second Corps was brought into position and sharp skirmishing 
soon followed. The Eighteenth Corps, numbering about thirteen 
thousand men, under command of Maj.-Gen. W. F. Smith, had 
been ordered from General Butler's command to join the Army of 
the Potomac at Cold Harbor. This was a fine body of men, 
composed largely of veteran regiments. The corps came by 
transports around by York river and landed :it the White House 
May 80th, from which point it was ordered to march to New (old 
Harbor, but through some mistake, the order was given to march 
to New Castle on the Pamunky. This blunder caused the 
Eighteenth Corps to march about fifteen miles out of their way, 
which delayed their arrival upon the field of action until late 
on the afternOOU of June 1st, later than had been anticipated. 



COLD HARBOR. 113 

Preparations were made and orders issued for the movements 
of the 30th. All the infantry was directed to move up close to 
the enemy. The Sixth Corps was to move early in the morning 
and form on the right of the Second, the Ninth Corps to form on 
the left of the Second and the Fifth Corps to move along the 
Shady Grove Church road to the Mechanicsville Pike in the vicin- 
ity of Bethesda Church. Batteries were placed in position in front 
of the Second Corps, the Ninth moved as directed and crossed 
the Totopotomy after some heavy skirmishing, the Fifth moved 
forward but met with considerable opposition. They found the 
enemy, Early's corps, strongly intrenched on the Mechanicsville 
Pike three-quarters of a mile south of the Shady Grove Church 
road. One brigade of Crawford's division soon became hotly 
engaged, was charged by Rode's division of Early's corps and 
driven back to the Shady Grove Church road where, by the aid 
of a well posted battery, it held the ground until the remainder of 
that division and the Fourth Division of the Fifth Corps could be 
brought up. The enemy made a vigorous attack, but was repulsed 
with heavy loss. Colonel Willis of the 12th Georgia, who com- 
manded a Confederate brigade, was killed. Also Colonel Jewell, 
13th Virginia, and Lieutenant-Colonel Watkins, 52d Virginia, of 
the Confederate army. 

The Second Corps was ordered to attack that evening to re- 
lieve the pressure upon the Fifth Corps. General Brooke's brigade 
of Barlow's division made a splendid charge and carried the ad- 
vanced line of Confederate rifle pits, but General Meade ordered 
the attack to cease at that point. The Confederates were also 
reinforced June 1st by a division from North Carolina and their 
army was strongly posted and intrenched in front of the Chicka- 
hominy river. The key to the situation was Cold Harbor, a place 
of no importance, except from the many roads leading from it 
towards Richmond. With this in possession of the Confederates, 
the Army of the Potomac was effectually blocked from a further 
advance. Longstreet's corps covered the crossing of the Chicka- 
hominy from behind Cold Harbor, occupying intrenchments in a 
heavy wood from which he could guard all approaches to it. May 
31st was spent in manoeuvering, placing the different corps in posi- 



114 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



tion and heavy skirmishing along the whole line. The Confederate 
position was found to be too strong for a direct assault, and as 
the enemy held possession of Cold Harbor with cavalry only, 
under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, General Sheridan was ordered to 
charge and drive him out, which he accomplished with but little 
loss. An infantry division under command of General Hoke 
came to the support of Fitzhugh Lee. The movements of both 
armies were now directed towards that point, and General Sheri- 
dan was ordered to hold it " at all hazards " until an infantry 
force could be brought up. This he succeeded in doing. The 
Confederate lines were also readjusted and Longstreet brought 
around to Early's right in anticipation of a general attack, and to 
checkmate the movement of the Sixth Corps from the Federal 
right towards the left. 

On the morning of June 1st General Kershaw attacked Sheri- 
dan at Cold Harbor with two brigades of infantry, but was finally 
repulsed. The Sixth Corps soon arrived and rendered the posi- 
tion secure. The Eighteenth Corps, coming up later in the day, 
was ordered to take position on the right of the Sixth, to hold the 
road running from Cold Harbor to Bethesda Church and to join 
with the Sixth Corps in making the attack. The enemy was 
strongly intrenched and in large force in a heavy wood, about 
twelve hundred yards distant from the position of the Sixth and 
Eighteenth Corps, the intervening ground was mostly open, and 
in order to reach him, the lines had to move forward across this 
open space, exposed to a destructive fire of musketry and artil- 
lery. The charge was made in splendid order and the first line of 
intrenchments carried, tint the second was found too strong for 
assault, hence the two corps remained in the captured works, 
reconstructing them to meet any counter-attack from the enemy. 
The engagement was brief hut, bloody, the total loss being over 
two thousand killed and wounded, one regiment alone, Second 
Connecticut Artillery, losing ■"»•"» killed, L87 wounded and 146 
missing. The enemy also lost heavily, mostly in prisoners. The 

Second Corps had been ordered i<> take position on the left of the 
sixth iii order to do so it had to march a considerable distance 
around, over ami across a network of roads wholly unknown, 



COLD HARBOR. 115 

running in all directions, through a night of extreme darkness and 
a day of excessive heat. Much delay and trouble was caused in 
getting the artillery through such a country ; in consequence, the 
corps did not reach position until early on the morning of the 2d. 
The different corps were not in position to make an attack that 
day, but preparations were made and orders issued for a general 
attack along the whole line at half past four on the morning of 
June 3d. 

In the withdrawal of the Ninth Corps from the trenches to 
the new position assigned, the skirmish line was attacked by a 
Confederate division and lost a number of prisoners. The same 
division gained the rear of the Fifth Corps skirmish line and 
captured a number of them. 

The final disposition, as made for the assault, which was 
ordered for the morning of the 3d, was as follows : The Ninth 
Corps, holding the extreme right, was to guard that flank and 
support the Fifth in the attack ; following the Ninth from right 
to left the corps were arranged as follows : Fifth, Eighteeuth, 
Sixth and Second, while two divisions of cavalry were to hold the 
lower crossings of the Chickahomiuy and two divisions to operate 
on the right flank. The line as thus formed was nearly six miles 
in length ; that part held by the Ninth Corps being extended to 
cover so much ground, was hardly more than a heavy skirmish 
line and could scarcely hope for success in charging over breast- 
works defended by a strong force of infantry and artillery. 

On the morning of the 3d, as the first ray of light appeared 
above the eastern horizon, the men were on their feet and lines 
were being formed for another desperate grapple with the Con- 
federate Army of Northern Virginia. 

The spirit which had heretofore animated our troops did not 
seem as buoyant this morning as usual. The strength of the 
enemy's line had been tested by slight taps along its whole length 
and not a weak spot had been found. For every thump it had 
received it had given a blow in return. While there was a loyal 
obedience of orders and an unflinching devotion to duty, yet all 
seemed to feel that there was desperate work in front of them, 
that the slaughter would be great and the result, at best, was 



116 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REC.IMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



doubtful. The stubborn facts as presented held out no promise 
calculated to raise their confidence. It was not that the spirit 
of the grand old Army of the Potomac was broken, but they were 
men of reason and knew what was before them. When the orders 
came to move the line swept forward and struck the Confederate 
intrenchments as an ocean billow lashed by the storm dashes 
against the rocky coast, only to be broken and rolled back by the 
torrent of shot and shell, grape and canister, that poured full in 
their faces. The action was of short duration. The receding 
line bore no marks of disgrace, but carried back to the pages of 
history a record which will forever stand a monument to American 
valor. The Second Corps upon the left gained considerable 
advantage at first, dislodging the enemy from his position in the 
first line of trenches, capturing several hundred prisoners, one or 
two stands of colors and three guns. The latter were immediately 
turned upon the enemy. This victory was only temporary. The 
second line failed to come up and this division of the Second 
Corps (Barlow's) was soon dislodged in turn by the enemy who 
quickl}- made a counter-charge, after having been heavily rein- 
forced. General Gibbon's division of the Second Corps advanced 
at the same time with Barlow's, but encountered an almost im- 
passable swamp in front, which separated them. However, they 
succeeded, after much difficulty and some delay, in floundering 
through and advanced under a terrific fire close to the enemy's 
works, but were unable to hold possession of them. The gallant 
Colonel McMahon even mounted the rebel parapet and planted 
the colors of his regiment upon it, but almost instantly fell, 
mortally wounded. The slaughter at this point was simply 
murderous. 

The Sixth and Eighteenth Corps fared no better and gained 
no more. Tiny did all that brave men could do, more even than 
could have been reasons My expected under the circumstances. 
They succeeded in holding an advanced position much nearer 

the enemy, which they held and intrenched. 

The Fifth Corps w;is extended in such a thin line that it was 
entirely hopeless to attempt anything beyond holding its own 
line intact . 



COLD HARBOR. 117 

Two divisions of the Ninth Corps (Potter's and Wilcox's) 
moved forward on the right and took the rifle pits occupied by the 
troops under General Early and established themselves near his 
main line. The whole corps was to charge at one o'clock upon 
the main works. It was expected by that time our batteries 
would be able to silence those of the enemy that held a raking, 
enfilading fire upon our lines. It was found that our guns could 
not be placed in a position to do this, hence the order was 
countermanded just as the line of skirmishers was moving forward 
to the attack. Soon after this Eaily made an attack upon the 
Ninth Corps but was repulsed. General Burnside, assisted by 
one division of the Fifth Corps (Griffin's), made an attack upon 
Early and drove him some distance beyond the Shady Grove 
Church road. The Confederates under General Gordon made 
an attack upon the Fifth Corps but were repulsed. 

The Ninth Corps lost in killed and wounded about eight 
hundred, while the Fifth lost only about half that number. 

In General Early's report of this affair he is quoted as hav- 
ing said: u There were repeated attacks ou Rode's and Heth's 
fronts on the third, those on Cook's brigade of Heth's division 

being especially heavy, but all of them were repulsed It 

was necessary that Heth's division should join its corps on the 
right, as my flank, in this position, was very much exposed. I 
withdrew at the close of the day to the line previously occupied, 
and next morning Heth moved to the right." 

Any further attempts to assault the Confederate lines would 
have resulted in additional disaster. The loss to the Federal 
army in this engagement amounted to about eight thousand killed 
and wounded, about four-fifths of which fell upon the Second, 
Sixth and Eighteenth Corps, the other two, Fifth and Ninth, not 
being so heavily engaged, did not lose so many. The Confed- 
erate loss was not nearly as great. It was estimated at less than 
one thousand. 

After such an important engagement one naturally asks after 
the result, to know what has been accomplished at such an im- 
mense cost, and the object of it. The latter question has been 
answered heretofore, viz. : to turn Lee's right flank and cut him off 



118 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



from Richmond. This was far from being accomplished, but the 
Federal army held the position of Cold Harbor, from which it 
could proceed b} ? any of the roads diverging from there, except 
those occupied by General Lee. Those were effectually closed 
against us, unless we trod them as prisoners of war, which we 
were not disposed to do. 

The base of supplies had been changed from Fredericks- 
burg to the White House at the head of navigation on the York 
river. 

A brief description of this battle, with the effect it had upon 
the Confederate army, is given by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee in his 
life of Gen. R. E. Lee. He says: " There has been no instance 
of such destructive firing, attended with such small loss to the 

men who were shooting from stationary lines Death and 

destruction everywhere enveloped charging columns, and direct 
and cross fires tore them to pieces In front of the Con- 
federate defenses the scene was heartrending. The ground was 

strewn with the dead, dying and wounded Federals In 

an incredibly short time twelve thousand seven hundred and 
thirty-seven of their number had dropped from their ranks. Who 
knew how many would fail to answer roll call after another at- 
tack?" The same author further states: "After the battle 
of Cold Harbor, Lee had such confidence in his ability to keep 
( i rant from getting closer to Richmond, that he detached Lreck- 
enridge to meet Hunter, who having defeated the small Confed- 
erate force in the valley, under W. E. Jones, was advancing via 
Staunton mid Lynchburg. On the loth he sent Early with the 

Sir I Corps (Kwell's), eight thousand muskets and twenty-lour 

pieces of artillery, to join him." 

It bas been stated so often and believed by many, some even 
who presume to write history, that after the defeat and slaughter 

of the early morning of the 3d, General Granl ordered another 
assaull along the whole line, that this order was transmitted down 
through the different corps commanders to the rank and file, but 
that the men remained silent and motionless and would not move 

in obedience to this order. This is a slander upon that gallant 
old Ai'inv Of the Potomac whose record was second tO none 



COLD HARBOR. 1 19 

that ever trod the North American continent. For over three 
long bloody years that army had passed through battles and cam- 
paigns under different leaders, had suffered disaster and defeat 
through no fault of its own. Its path could be traced by bleach- 
ing bones and nameless graves all the way from the Susquehanna 
to the banks of the James. Standing under the glory of such a 
record, it is not reasonable to suppose that they would tarnish it 
by a refusal to obey orders, neither is it reasonable to suppose 
that by a concert of understanding, without previous conference, 
the whole army should act as one man in such an important mat- 
ter. We were in command of a company in the First Brigade, 
First Division of the Ninth Corps, and were present in this en- 
gagement from the beginning to the end, and for days and months 
afterwards, yet we had no knowledge of any such order having 
been issued. Had it been, it would have been obeyed, even if the 
last man had fallen in its execution. There is no record to show 
that such an order was ever issued. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys, 
author of the valuable work entitled "The Virginia Campaign of 
1864 and 1865," and to whom I am greatly indebted for much 
information and data, makes no mention of such an order. As 
he was Chief of Staff of the Army of the Potomac at the time, he 
was certainly in a position to know and would, beyond question, 
have published it, had it been so. There may be some good 
grounds for stating that General Grant seriously contemplated 
issuing such an order, but was prevailed upon by his corps com- 
manders, in whom he had implicit confidence, to withhold it. 

In speaking of this affair in his memoirs, General Grant 
says : " Hancock gave the opinion that, in his front, the enemy 
was too strong to make any further assault promise success. 
Wright thought he could obtain the lines of the enemy, but it 
would require the co-operation of Hancock's and Smith's Corps. 
Smith thought a lodgment possible, but was not sanguiue. 
Burnside thought something could be done in his front, but War- 
ren differed. I concluded, therefore, to make no more assaults 
and a little after twelve, directed, in the following letter, that all 
offensive action should cease : " — 



120 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 
12.30 p.m. 
Major-General Meade, 

Commanding Army of the Potomac. 
The opinion of corps commanders not being sanguine of success in 
case an assault is ordered, you may direct a suspension of further ad- 
vance at present. Hold our most advanced positions and strengthen 
them. Whilst on the defensive our line may be contracted from the right, 
if practicable. Reconnoissances should be made in front of every corps 
and advances made to advantageous positions by regular approaches. 

To aid the expedition of General Hunter it is necessary to detain all 
the enemy now with Lee until the former gets well on his way to Lynch- 
burg. To do this effectually it will be better to keep the enemy out of 
the intrenchments of Richmond than to have them go back there. 
Wright and Hancock should be ready for assault in case the enemy 
should break through General Smith's lines and all should be ready to 
resist an assault. 

The two lines were crowded close together and the firing con- 
tinuous on both sides. The Federal army was badly bruised and 
bleeding. The men could look across at the strong, invulnerable 
lines of Confederate intrenchments. They could see their own 
dead and wounded comrades stretched upon the ground between 
the two opposing lines, exposed to the burning heat of a Southern 
sun, and it must be said, they felt no disposition to renew the 
charge, where not only reason, but bitter experience, told them 
it would only result in adding more victims to the ghastly array 
before them ; yet the men began to think more seriously and ask the 
• juestion where all this would end. While they were willing to 
take chances, yet the bravest would like to see some in their 
favor. The chances of another charge presented none. 

The blue line of the Fifty-Seventh .Massachusetts had been 
growing shorter and shorter. Looking at the tine body of men, 
928, that had inarched out of the city of Worcester on that bright 
. V | nil day, less than two months before, and looking at it now 
wiili barely men enough to make two companies, and companies 
reduced 1<> mere squads, formed pictures that stood in sad con- 
trast. The retrospective could be traced in mournful lines through 
the gloomy Wilderness and over every battlefield down to Cold 

Harbor. Scarcely a day hut men had fallen from the ranks under 



COLD HARBOR. 121 

the dark shadow of death, to struggle against sickness and starva- 
tion or to drag mangled forms through the coming days of their 
human existence. 

It required no imagination to portray all this ; only listen to 
the sergeant calling the roll and it told the story in language that 
could not be disputed. What was in store for us next? When 
would the long desired end come, and what had we gained ? Only 
to the last question could one formulate an answer, and that was 
anything but satisfactory. We had gained no glorious victory, 
neither had we suffered a disastrous defeat. The situation seemed 
much the same as in the beginning, save that the regiment had 
faded away with greater rapidity than it had been recruited, and 
there, squarely before us, stood the Confederate army of Northern 
Virginia, with its indomitable leader, Gen. R. E. Lee, still at its 
head and confronting us as defiantly as on the first day in the 
Wilderness. 

The night after the battle we were detailed for picket duty 
and had to move out in front of our own works, under such cover 
as could be found, or none at all. Every man who could sought 
the friendly side of some protecting tree, and from such positions 
continued to fire at the opposing pickets throughout the night. 
There was no cessation, no rest. The picket lines were not more 
than fifty yards apart. A change of position was extremely 
hazardous. Under such circumstances it does not take a man 
long to improvise some kind of shelter, even if he has to dig a 
hole in the ground with fingers that never delved in mother earth 
before. One Confederate posted behind a tree directly in front 
seemed to feel particularly ugly and annoying, and kept busy 
all the time loading and firing from behind it. Finally, as he 
reached around to fire, the crack of a rifle was heard a few feet 
from our left and he fell to the ground never to rise again. Some 
evidently thought he was " playing possum " in order to get a 
better shot at a new victim ; hence, he became a target for a 
score or more of Federal muskets. When our line advanced the 
next morning he was found riddled with more than a hundred 
bullets. After the first shot it little recked to him, poor fellow, 
whether it were a hundred or a million. He had passed beyond 



122 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

being an enemy, and one could not help thinking that he, too, had 
loved ones in some Southern home, who were anxiously hoping 
and praying for his safe return, — perhaps little ones saying " God 
bless papa " in their evening prayers. Oh ! cruel, relentless war, 
that transforms men made after the image of a merciful God into 
fiends incarnate, revelling in the gory dance of death. Both 
sides claimed to be engaged in a righteous cause and fervently 
prayed for aid and protection from Him who pronounced " Peace 
on earth, good will toward men." Could one straggling ray of 
Christian light have penetrated the darkness of this diabolical 
scene, it would seem that the stormy cloud of war would have 
been lifted. But if all the prayers had been answered, the condi- 
tion of affairs would have become still more complicated. More 
unreasonable they seemed than those offered by the Greeks and 
Trojans at the siege of Troy, for those possessed the consistency 
of petitioning different gods, who were more or less interested on 
one side or the other, or whose special care it was to keep vigil 
over some favored one. It was fully demonstrated here that 
" Man's inhumanity to man makes countless millions mourn." 

During the night, under cover of darkness, men stealthily 
crawled over the breastworks, out among the dead and dying, to 
bring in some wounded comrade to a place of safety. In this way 
most of the wounded were brought in, but many fell themselves 
in the perilous undertaking. 

On the morning of the 3d, the Fifty-Seventh supported a 
battery (Wright's Nth Massachusetts Light, we think), which 
was posted in a commanding position, and rendered effective 
service in repelling a charge of the enemy. 

One reckless young fellow of the Fifty-Seventh was curious 
to watch the artillery fire which was going on between this battery 
and one of the enemy's, which was posted in the woods about 
half :i mile distant. For the purpose of better observation he 
Muted himself upon a rotten stump and was evidently greatly 
interested in the artillery duel. He was several times cautioned 

that he was in a dangerous place and advised not to expose him- 
self needlessly, but to lie down with the others. lie hoastingly 
remarked that the shot had not been made that COUld hit him. 



COLD HARBOR. 123 

Just that instant a solid shot struck the stump, smashing it in 
pieces and letting the fellow to the ground so suddenly that for 
some seconds he believed he had actually been hit. 

While lying behind the works in front of the enemy, an inci- 
dent occurred characteristic of the brave Captain Doherty. A 
man of his company had been slightly wounded and started to 
the rear, another man started out to assist him. Calling the 
latter back, Captain Doherty took him over in front of the line of 
breastworks, where both were exposed to the fire of the enemy, 
and gave him a little drill in the manual of arms, then facing 
him about, he marched him back again ; the Captain in the 
meantime having received two or three bullet holes through his 
clothing. 

The casualties in the Fifty-Seventh were not as great in this 
engagement as in the previous ones, for the reason that the 
regiment did not have as many men to lose and was not so 
heavily engaged. 

The following is a list of casualties : one officer, Lieut. 
George S. Greene, and six enlisted men wounded and two missing, 
viz. : — 

WOUNDED. 

Patrick Flynn, Pvt. Co. A Benjamin F. Williams, Corp. Co. D 

Martin Maker, " " Peter J. Mambert, Pvt. " 

A. J. Trnssell, " " William Skaftoe, 1st Sergt. Co. K 

MISSING. 

Ckarles S. Morse, Pvt. Co. K (Died of wounds Nov. 30, 1864.) 
Vernon Smitk, Pvt. Co. K (Died Marck 9, 1865, at Andersonville.) 

The casualties in the Confederate army during this engage- 
ment are not given, but are reported very small. According to 
the tabular statement of the "Medical aud Surgical History of 
the War," for a period covering from the 1st to the 12th of June, 
during which time the only important engagement was Cold 
Harbor, the killed and wounded were fifteen hundred, missing, 
five hundred. General Grant's opinion of this battle can well be 
expressed by a remark that he is reported to have made after the 
close of the war, that it was the only battle he had ever fought 
that he would not have fought again under the circumstances. The 



124 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

fact was, that General Lee held a stronger defensive position than 
in any of the other battles. The swamps, woods, rivers, hills and 
creeks all worked to his advantage ; or it might be said that he 
possessed the military ability of knowing how to take advantage 
of them all. The farther he was forced back the stronger he 
became by reason of being nearer his base of supplies, with 
shorter lines of communication and fewer outposts to guard. As 
all these outlying detachments were drawn in, they joined the 
main army. In the one month's campaign the Army of the 
Potomac had suffered a loss of nearly (if not quite) forty 
thousand men. Whether the results obtained had been sufficient 
to justify such a sacrifice is a matter which military critics will 
never agree upon. It is easier to criticise a movement after it has 
been made and the results known, than before. However critics 
may criticise, one thing is evident, that there would be fewer of 
them if they had been in the front line of the Arm} 7 of the 
Potomac from the Rapidan to the James. 

The next day (June 4th) active operations were not resumed 
beyond an incessant skirmish firing along the whole line, in which 
every human figure that appeared in sight of the enemy became a 
target for a hundred muskets. On the 6th the enemy made one 
or two feeble assaults for the purpose of ascertaining the strength 
and position of the Federal army, but with no serious purpose of 
:in attack. About midnight of the 6th a heavy charge was made 
upon the position of the Ninth Corps, which was repulsed, and 
thus the two armies remained in nearly the same relative positions 
until the 12th. The scene between the two lines was perfectly 
sickening, even to men accustomed to the horrors of the battle- 
Held. The dcnd remained unburied and were scattered thickly 
Over tin- ground, while most of those who had been wounded, and 
not removed by their comrades at the great risk of their own 
lives, had been wantonly killed by Confederate sharpshooters or 
had died from exposure and lack of care and comfort of any 
kind. Their bodies had turned Mack and putrid and were 
swollen beyond recognition. Added to this the carcasses of dead 
horses and mules were scattered through the woods and swamps. 
The weather was extremely warm ; the malaria arising from the 



COLD HARBOR. 125 

swamps and the odor from the fast decomposing bodies were 
almost unendurable, and were already causing considerable sick- 
ness. It soon became evident that the army could not remain 
long in its present position, the line between the living and the 
dead was narrowing day by day. On the evening of the 5th 
General Grant proposed a cessation of hostilities for the purpose 
of burying the dead, but the proposition was not agreed to until 
the afternoon of the 7th, when a truce from six to eight in the 
evening was agreed upon, and the dead were buried where they 
fell. Very few of the wounded were found living. The truce 
was not wholly respected on the right of the line opposite the 
Ninth Corps where intermittent, desultory firing continued to such 
an extent as to render it unsafe to risk exposure. Fitzhugh Lee 
admits that their men were " hungry and mad." The latter may 
be a good qualification to possess in actual battle, but hardly 
commendable at such a time. 

Badeau says a correspondence was carried on between 
General Grant and General Lee for a suspension of hostilities for 
the purpose of burying the dead and removing the wounded, 
which lasted forty-eight hours, General Grant appealing in the 
name of humanity for the relief of the suffering wounded of both 
sides, but that General Lee was slow in accepting any such 
proposition. 

Badeau further says: "The Ninth Corps had really made 
more progress than any other portion of the army, and Burnside's 
dispositions for a further advance were all arranged. He had 
suggested to Wilson on his right to move from the opposite side 
of the Totopotomy and attack the enemy in rear, and his own 
orders to advance were already given, when the command to 
suspend further operations arrived. Wilson, however, had turned 
the enemy's left and taken a number of prisoners before he 
became aware of the change of orders. Early in the afternoon 
the rebels opened a furious fusilade on the right of Burnside, 
under cover of which they attempted to haul off their batteries by 
means of prolonges, but were prevented by Potter's fire. During 
the night they withdrew from Burnside's front, leaving their dead 
unburied and some of their wounded on the field." 



126 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Both the Federals and Confederates continued to 1 strengthen 
their defenses, the latter keeping close vigil upon the movements 
of the former, anticipating just what actually did take place, 
another move by the left flank, at the inception of which Lee 
hoped to be able to strike a heavy blow upon the Army of the 
Potomac, taking it at a disadvantage, as it moved out of the 
trenches. General Grant, in the meantime, seemed to have a 
better understanding of his adversary, and while making all 
arrangements for the anticipated flank movement, did not conceive 
that it could be done without his (Lee's) knowledge, but had 
made every disposition not to be surprised himself and to guard 
against all such attacks as Lee might contemplate. To move an 
army of this size by the flank, through such a difficult country, in 
face of an enemy flushed with what he conceived to be a great 
victor}', was a task requiring the highest military talent, but 
General Grant possessed it to an admirable degree, and accom- 
plished it successfully, as the following pages will show. 

On the 11th of June, General Meade issued the following 
order, which is copied verbatim in order that the reader may be 
able to arrive at a better understanding of the events that 
followed. 

Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 

June 11, 1864. 
ORDERS. 

The following movements are ordered : — 

1. At dark on the evening of the 12th instant, Brigadier-General 
Wilson will move the brigade of cavalry, picketing the Chickahorainy 
across the swamp at Long Bridge, or that vicinity, and out on the Long 
Bridge road towards the crossing of White Oak Swamp and toward the 
Charles Citj Central and Newmarket roads. The brigade will move 

promptly and clear the road for the Fifth Corps. 

The pickets at the crossings of the ( 'hickahoininy will remain until 
relieved by infantry pickets. 

2. During Saturday, the Nth instant, Major-General Warren will 

mo\ e i he two di\ Isions of his corps, now held in resen e, t«> Moody's. i>y 
w a\ of Parsley's mill and Prospecl Church, etc.. so as to avoid the obser- 
vation of the enemy. At dark on the evening of the 12th instant he will 
move his whole corps to Long Bridge by the shortesl route across the 

Chickahominj . and mo^ e on i he road to White I >ak Swamp Bridge (called 

Long Bridge road and hold thai road, looking towards the crossing of 



COLD HARBOR. 127 

White Oak Swamp and Charles City Central and Newmarket roads, 
during the passage of the army towards the James river. He will follow 
the Second Corps towards Charles City Court House. General Warren 
will picket the crossings of the Chickahominy on his flank while moving 
to Long Bridge, relieving the cavalry pickets. 

3. Major-General W. F. Smith, Eighteenth Corps, will withdraw 
as soon after dark as practicable, on the evening of the 12th instant and 
move by way of Parsley's mill, Prospect Church, Hopeville Church, 
Tunstall's Station to White House, where he will embark and proceed to 
Bermuda Hundred. Upon reaching Tunstall's Station his artillery and 
trains will join the main trains of the army. 

4. Major-General Bnrnside, Ninth Corps, will withdraw as soon 
after dark as practicable on the evening of the 12th instant, and move by 
way of Allen's mill (or by roads avoiding Smith's route), then north of 
the south fork of the Matadequin to Burtin's, then past Hughes', Watt's, 
Clapton's, Turner's Store, etc., to Tunstall's Station, or by any adjoining 
route, avoiding Smith's, that may be found at Tunstall's Station. 

At Tunstall's Station the corps of General Smith has precedence. 
When it has cleared the way, General Burnside will move to Jones' 
Bridge, taking care not to interfere with routes of other corps, past 
Baltimore crossroads and Emman's Church. Where the routes of the 
Sixth and Ninth Corps unite, about three miles from Jones' Bridge, the 
corps that reaches the point first will have precedence. 

After crossing at Jones' Bridge, Major-General Burnside will take 
the route passing east of Charles City Court House by Vandorn's, Clapton's 
and Tyler's mill. 

5. Major-General Wright, Sixth Corps, will withdraw as soon 
after dark as practicable on the evening of the 12th instant, to the in- 
trenched line in his rear, from Allen's Pond to Elder's Swamp, and in 
conjunction with the Second Corps hold that line until the roads for the 
Second and Sixth Corps are well cleared by the Fifth Corps, Avhen the 
two corps will withdraw. 

General Wright will move by way of Cool Arbor, Taylor's, J. P. 
Parsley's, Widow Vias', Good's and Hopkins' mill to Moody's, and thence 
by way of Emman's Church to Jones' Bridge, preceding or following the 
Ninth Corps, as already indicated, when the routes unite. 

After crossing the Chickahominy, Gene-ral Wright will take the 
route to Charles City Court House by Vandorn's. 

6. Major-General Hancock, Second Corps, will withdraw as soon 
after dark as practicable, on the evening of the 12th instant, to the in- 
trenched line in his rear from Allen's Pond to Elder's Swamp, and hold 
that line in conjunction with the Sixth Corps until the roads for the 
Second and Sixth Corps are well cleared, when he will move by routes in 
his rear to the Despatch Station road, avoiding the roads of the Sixth 
Corps, and by Despatch Station, and the shortest route to Long Bridge. 



128 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

He will look out for the crossings of the Chickahominy on his flanks 
■while passing. 

After crossing the Chickahominy, General Hancock will move 
towards Charles City Court House by way of Saint Mary's church, 
Walker's, etc. 

7. Brigadier-General Ferrero will move his division at dark on the 
evening of the 12th instant, to the trains of the army near White House 
or Cumberland, and cover them during the movement. 

8. The trains will move to the Window Shades and cross the 
Chickahominy in that vicinity. 

They will take such routes as will not interfere with the movements 
of the troops. 

9. The brigade of cavalry on the right will withdraw at the same 
time as the Sixth and Second Corps and close in on the rear of the army 
and cover it and the trains during the movement. 

10. Corps commanders will see that every precaution is taken to 
insure the rapid execution of this movement, and that troops move 
promptly and quickly on the march. 

11. Headquarters during the movement "will be at Pollard's or 
Cedar Grove, near Long Bridge, and until established there, will be on 
the route of the Sixth Corps as far as Eminan's Church. 

12. Eight canvas and eight wooden pontons will accompany the 
Fifth Corps to Long Bridge. 

The engineers will establish bridges at Jones' bridge with the re- 
maining eighl canvas pontons and the wooden pontons of the Sixth 
Corps. The wooden pontons of the Second Corps will accompany the 
main I rain of the army. 

13. The pickets of the several corps will be withdrawn at the 
same hour from the line of intrenchnients before daylight of the 13th 
instant, and will follow the routes of their respective corps. 

14. The corps will take with them on the march merely those light 
headquarters wagons, ammunition wagons, ambulances, etc., specified for 
the march across the Rapidan. All others will be sent at once to the main 
train of 1 he army. 

1.1. The depot at White House will be continued for the present 
with its permanent garrison, but all supplies, etc., for this army will be 
moved to the .lames river. Leaving .Mi, (inn rations subsistence and .">n,oilil 
rations of forage in addition to the supplies for the garrison. On the 
arrival of Major-General Sheridan and Hunter, the post at While House 

will be broken up and transferred to Yorktown, from which place the 
commanding officer will report his arrival to these headquarters. 

By command of 

Majok-Gbneral MEADE. 
S. Williams, 

Assistant Adjutant'Gi n< ral. 



COLD HARBOR. 129 

It will be seen by this order that if General Lee felt strong 
enough to cope with General Grant, after sparing over eight thousand 
muskets and twenty-four pieces of artillery, the latter felt strong 
enough not only to cope with him, after sending the Eighteenth 
Corps, over ten thousand men, away from the army by transport 
around to Bermuda Hundred, but to resume the flank movement 
through the swamps of the Chickahominy, and to cross rivers in 
the very teeth of the Coufederate army that was inspired with so 
much confidence, and to accomplish it successfully. The move- 
ments, as directed, would seem somewhat complicated with such a 
large army, with its immense wagon trains and all the belongings 
necessary for a well-equipped army marching through the enemy's 
country. Everything has to move in regular order and with 
exactness, or friction will arise which will not only retard the 
movement but oftentimes endanger the safety of the whole army. 
This was a case where no friction arose and the order was exe- 
cuted with the precision of clockwork. 

Before leaving Cold Harbor General Crittenden, who com- 
manded the division to which the Fifty-Seventh belonged, was re- 
lieved, at his own request, and the command fell upon Brig.- 
Gen. James H. Ledlie, who had previously commanded the 
First Brigade of the division. Subsequent events proved that 
this assignment was an unfortunate one, not only for the divi- 
sion, but the regiment. 

The army commenced to move after dark of the 12th. The 
pickets of the several corps were kept out until daylight the next 
morning, in order to conceal the movement as much as possible 
from the enemy, but he discovered it early on the morning of the 
13th and immediately took measures to meet it. 

The Fifth Corps, after having been withdrawn from its posi- 
tion in line, was thrown about a mile in advance towards what 
was known as Riddell's Shop, from whence three roads led to Rich- 
mond. The object of this was to deceive General Lee by giving 
him the impression that an attack was to be made from that point. 
It had the desired effect, and while he was making preparations 
to meet it, the rest of the army was on the march towards James 
river. General Warren held this position covering the crossings 

9 



130 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGEVIENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



of the Ckickahominy and the bridge over White Oak Swamp and 
occupying the attention of the Confederates until the army was 
well under way toward the designated point, when he withdrew 
and followed in rear of the Second Corps, leaving Lee in doubt 
as to where the next blow would be struck, but knowing that 
Richmond was the ultimate object, and having the arc of a smaller 
circle to march over, he was able to anticipate it from any point. 
The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts marched with the Ninth 
Corps by way of Tunstall's Station, Baltimore Cross Roads and 
Olive Church, encamping for the night near the crossing of the 
Chickahominy. The regiment crossed the river on ponton 
bridges early on the morning of the 14th, and after a most 
fatiguing march, through an extremely hot day, reached Charles 
City Court House just above Wilcox's Landing on the James 
river, and immediately threw up works to defend the crossing at 
that place. As these movements were required to be made in 
great haste, the marches were necessarily long and exhaustive, 
being from twenty-five to thirty-five miles. For the previous six 
weeks it had been literally fighting by day and marching by night, 
with very little time for sleep or refreshment. Officers had not 
been able to obtain a change of clothing, as there could be no 
delay for the regimental wagons to come up. They were so 
covered and begrimed with dust aud dirt that they would have 
been disgusted and ashamed of themselves in any other place or 
position, yet they wore this evidence of hard service, as a dis- 
tinctive mark of honor earned in the field in defense of their 
country. Going to war possesses a romantic charm before 
experience has been gained, but when it comes to hard marching 
and fighting, with only the coarsest food to eat, ami standing 
guard nil night, perhaps through a drenching rain, with blistered 
Int. tired Limbs and aching bones, where it is a crime, punishable 
w ith de:itli, to full asleep ; then to Bgh1 or march all the next day, 

rather tarnishes the glamour of war and makes it more realistic ; 

l>ut this is what these men did dav after day. A night of unin- 
terrupted rest, with the ground for :i lied, was considered :i 

luxury. It' the ground were wet and muddy, two horizontal rails 
to lie upon made the possessor of (hem feel wealthy. The James 



COLD HARBOR. 131 

river at the point of crossing was seven hundred yards in width. 
The ponton bridge was commenced under the charge of Major 
Duane, of the Engineer Corps, the afternoon of the 14th and 
finished about midnight of the same clay. The current was strong 
with the ebb tide, which had a rise and fall of about four feet. 
In mid-river the bridge had to be stayed by anchoring to vessels 
above and below. The army began to cross at once, the Ninth 
Corps in advance, preceded by the artillery and wagon trains, 
followed by the Fifth and Sixth Corps. All that night the dark 
moving line could be seen stretching across the river. Lights 
were displayed at intervals to facilitate the movement. The 
pontons made of canvas were very unsteady under the pressure 
of such a moving weight, and would tip and sway as the weight 
became lighter or heavier at certain points, so that it was difficult 
to march without staggering. The resounding tramp of marching 
men and the rumble of heavy wheels continued until about mid- 
night of the 16th, when the whole army was safely across to the 
south bank of the river at Fort Powhattan. The Fifty- Seventh 
immediateby took up the march for Petersburg, marching to the 
distant sound of artillery, that grew louder and more distinct as 
mile after mile was left behind, and keeping step to the familiar 
tune, "We'll hang Jeff Davis to a sour-apple tree," which was 
sung both in the spirit and letter. Everyone knew that more 
hard work was ahead, but none imagined that it was to be one 
long strain of ten tedious months. To tell the oft-repeated story 
of those months of battle and siege, in which the Fifty-Seventh 
gallantly sustained the reputation it had so dearly won, bore 
its share of wounds and death, and finally contributed its share 
towards winning the laurels of victory, will form the subject of 
future chapters. 



■ ■£» K 1 






1 -?■/ 






isf Ol 






i 






Ji ^1 


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ALBERT DOTY, 

1st Lieut. 57th Mass., Bvt. Capt. U.S. Vols. 




JOHN W. SANDERSON, 

Capt. 57th Mass. 



EDWIN I. COE, 

I/ieut. (acting- Adjt.' 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER VIII. 




PETERSBURG. 

T will be remembered that in transferring the Army of 
m the Potomac from the vicinity of Cold Harbor to the 
south bank of the James river, the Eighteenth Corps 
was sent by transports down the York river around 
by Fortress Monroe and up the James. This corps 
began to arrive at Bermuda Hundred the evening of 
June 14th, and by the morning of the 15th was ready to 
commence operations upon the defenses of Petersburg. A division 
of cavalry under General Kautz, and General Hincks' division of 
colored troops, were assigned to General Smith's command. 

The cavalry and colored division were the first to arrive in 
front of the Confederate works. General Hincks' division 
(colored) attacked the enemy's outpost at Bailey's farm, making 
a most gallant charge, capturing a number of prisoners and one 
piece of artillery. Most of this day was spent in reconnoitering 
the enemy's position. About sundown General Smith made a 
spirited attack upon the enemy's intrenchments, northeast of 
Petersburg, and carried the line for about two and a half miles, 
capturing several hundred prisoners and fifteen pieces of artillery. 
He considered the enemy too strong in his front for another 
attack, and preferred to retain possession of what he had already 
won rather than to risk losing it by another attack. General 
Hancock came up with the Second Corps soon after dark, and re- 
lieved the men of the Eighteenth Corps. It was believed then by 
General Smith that the whole of Lee's army was in front of him, 
or within striking distance. The facts, as revealed later, show 
that he had only one brigade, commanded by General Wise, with 
some dismounted cavalry and artillery, opposed to him ; in all, h'ss 



134 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



than four thousand men. If he had assaulted them, with his 
whole force, Petersburg must have fallen ; and instead of the 
long siege, our guns would soon have been thundering before the 
gates of Richmond. Fitzhugh Lee says that General Lee was slow 
to believe that Petersburg was seriously threatened, believing all 
the time that the attempted approach to Richmond would be made 
from the north bank of the James. He had discovered the with- 
drawal of the Army of the Potomac from Cold Harbor on the 
morning of the 13th. For the first time during the campaign he 
was in doubt, but upon the earnest appeal of General Beauregard, 
he commenced to transfer his army to the south bank of the 
James at Drury's Bluff, and by the evening of the 15th the Con- 
federate Army of Northern Virginia commenced to arrive and 
take position within the intrenchments that encircled Petersburg 
on the north and east. These works had been constructed under 
the direction of General Beauregard several months before, and 
were built with the superior engineering skill for which that officer 
was noted. They had strong batteries connected with infantry 
intrenchments, the approaches to which were protected by 
ditches, abatis and chevaux de /rise. To those not familiar with 
the two last mentioned, we may be indulged in a brief digression to 
explain them and their uses. Abatis is a defense made of felled 
trees laid parallel, with the tops pointing outward, the leaves 
stripped, branches trimmed and pointed in the direction from 
which approach is to be resisted. Often large branches are cut 
and pointed and then set in the ground so thickly that a man 
could not pass between without one or more being removed. In 
a heavily wooded country, as most of Virginia was at that time, 
convenient trees were usually found in abundance. Chevaux de 
frisc are constructed of a beam of wood through which rows of 
pointed roils about six feet in length are driven, the rods being 
about four or five inches apart. There are four rows of these 
rods passing through opposite luces of this beam in directions 
alternately at right angles to each other, the beams being about 
ti ii feet in Length and secured so as not to be easily removed. 
Often both the abatis and chevaux de friae would be used in 
front of a deep, wide moat or ditch, behind which would be bas- 



PETERSBURG. 135 

tioned earthworks and rifle pits, constructed in such a manner 
that any approach by a hostile force could be met with a raking 
front and flank fire of musketry and artillery. In case an assail- 
ing force could live to reach these obstructions, it required time 
to remove them for the passage of troops, who then had to cross 
the ditch and climb the face of the parapets before the enemy 
could be reached ; all this time the latter would be pouring a 
deadly fire upon the assailants at a distance of only a few yards. 
This is what it meant to charge the enemy in position. This 
was what the Army of the Potomac was doing all the way down 
from the Wilderness, and this was what had to be done in front of 
the trenches around Petersburg, while the enemy remained behind 
them. From this brief description it does not seem difficult for 
one, wholly unacquainted with the science of war, to understand 
the great advantage possessed by the army which always stood 
on the defensive, over the assailant. This should satisfactorily 
explain why a greater force was needed to make an attack than 
to resist one, and why the Federal loss was always so much 
heavier than the Confederate. The latter could lose only a small 
proportion while the attack was being made, which if successfid 
resulted in a capture of prisoners and terminated all wounding or 
killing, or if not a surrender, then a hasty retreat within some 
other comparative place of security to continue the resistance. 

Let the peacefully disposed reader, sitting by his fireside, 
imagine himself obliged to advance through and over such ob- 
stacles in face of a gallant enemy, with loaded muskets and 
cannon pointed upon him ; yet, dear reader, that was what was 
required of the soldiers of the Union during four years of bloody 
war. That is what made ten thousand times ten thousand graves 
and thousands upon thousands maimed and disabled veterans, 
who think it no dishonor that their names help to swell the pension 
roll. Had the situation been reversed, the Confederate arnry, 
with all its boasted valor, could not have accomplished more. 
We mean no reflection upon their valor, that is conceded, but we 
do claim that it required some, on the part of the Federal soldier, 
to make such attacks as we have described, even if our numbers 
were greater. 



136 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Returning again to the Ninth Corps and the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts which we left on the loth, commencing the march 
from where it crossed the James river to Petersburg. The Third 
Division ("Wilcox) moved in advance, followed by the First and 
Second. Wilcox's division arrived in front of the enemy's works 
a little before noon of the 16th and took position for assaulting, 
with the First Division in support. As we marched forward we 
passed the colored troops of General Hincks' division near the 
scene of the previous clay's encounter. They were singing and 
having a regular jubilee over the guns they had captured. About 
the middle of the afternoon the entire corps was up and in posi- 
tion on the left of the Second Corps, awaiting orders for the 
attack. The Fifth Corps, under General Warren, crossed the 
river, following the Ninth, and on the 16th, was ordered to push 
forward by division towards Petersburg. It arrived earty on the 
17th. At the same time that the Federal troops were arriving 
and taking position, the Confederates were doing the same. The 
Confederate intrenchments ran from the Appomattox river east 
for a mile to the Crty Point Railroad, thence out three miles to 
the Norfolk Railroad, then west four miles to a point a mile wesl 
of the Weldon Railroad, then again north two miles to the 
Appomattox river ( Humphreys' '• Virginia Campaign of 1864 
and 1865 "), making ten miles of intrenchments. 

On the morning of the 16th General Hancock was placed in 
command of all the Federal troops that had come up, and com- 
menced reconnoitering in his front. One brigade made a spirited 
attack upon an isolated redoubt and carried it. During the day 
General Meade arrived and ordered General Hancock to attack at 
six o'clock in the evening with the Second Corps, supported by 
two brigades of the Eighteenth on the right and two of the Ninth 
on the left. This proved a success and the enemy was driven 
hack along the whole line. The two brigades on the left (Ninth 

Corps brigades) captured two redans with several pieces of 
artillery and a Dumber of prisoners. During the night of the 
16th orders were issued for an attack upon the enemy's intrench- 
ments early the m-xt morning. The Second Division of the 
Ninth Corps was selected t ake the assault and was supported 



PETERSBURG. 137 

by the First Division (Ledlie). General Potter, Second Division, 
was ordered to move forward without firing a shot and to carry 
the works at the point of the bayonet. This was done in the 
most splendid manner. The troops swept forward and over the 
enemy's parapets, finding them asleep with their arms in their 
hands. Four guns, five colors, six hundred prisoners and fifteen 
hundred stands of small arms were captured, besides a line of 
works on a commanding ridge. The division pushed forward 
until encountering a new intrenched position stronger than the 
first from which the enemy could not be dislodged. The First 
Division did not get up to participate in this encounter, on account 
of being delayed in getting through a deep ravine which was filled 
with slashed timber. In the course of the day the Third Division 
made an attack upon this line, but was repulsed. During all these 
operations the Fifty- Seventh had not been actively engaged, 
the brigade to which it belonged having been employed in support 
of the troops of the Second Division ; but its turn was soon to 
come when it was to have its full share of work. 

The Fifty-Seventh now occupied a deep ravine about three 
hundred yards in front of the enemy's works. The First Division, 
with Colonel Christ's brigade of the Third Division, received 
orders to charge from this ravine upon the works where the Third 
Division had been repulsed earlier in the day. The men crept up 
to the edge of the ravine facing the Confederate intrenchments 
and laid prone upon the ground awaiting the order to charge, 
remaining in this position about an hour. The intervening space 
was open, with a field of growing corn about ten inches high. 
Looking across the field of green the enemy's works could be 
seen. He was evidently anticipating an attack and kept playing 
upon our line with artillery, ricochet firing with solid shot. Rico- 
chet is where the artillery is fired with a small charge at a small 
angle of elevation. The projectile soon strikes the ground and con- 
tinues in a straight line, rebounding every few yards until its force 
is spent. It is very destructive as it passes, with each rebound 
rising but little above the level of the ground. It cannot be used 
to advantage except in an open country where there are no objects 
to cause a deflection. In this case it was across a level cornfield. 



138 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

After the second rebound the direction of the projectile can be 
obtained, which gives one an opportunity of dodging them, if he 
is quick enough. We were kept dodging most of the time. While 
lying in this position a mail was brought up and passed around. 
The men who had received letters took the risk of reading them, 
while those who received none kept watch for the ricochet shots. 
Presently one was seen coming, under full headway, directly 
towards us. As we rolled over we called "Look out" to 
Lieutenant Barton who was but a few feet from us. He had 
barely time to turn over when the shot struck near his feet, 
smashing a musket belonging to Sergeaut McFarland, and then 
taking another rebound, passed on. It came so close to Lieutenant 
Barton as to take away one of the sleeves of his coat and to cause 
a slight contusion of the arm, sufficient, however, if he had been 
so disposed, to give him an excuse for leaving the field ; but 
Lieutenant Barton was made of better metal and remained at his 
post in command of his company. The division commander was 
safe from all such projectiles unless they had dropped vertically 
from the skies. Presently the order came to charge. Every 
officer stepped to the front and led the men forward. It was a 
gallant charge. The line swept impetuously forward across the 
open space, in the face of a murderous fire of musketry and 
artillery, never hesitating, but leaping the Confederate parapets, 
took them at the point of the bayonet. We were soon in pos- 
session of that part of their works, but they formed in an angle 
at the left where there was a redoubt with a battery, from which 
point they maintained a spirited fight until charged by the Fifty- 
Seventh, when part escaped and others surrendered. Over a 
hundred prisoners, a stand of colors and several pieces of artillery 
were captured. The enemy fell back to another line in close 
proximity, from which he kept up a continuous fire of musketry 
and artillery, subsequently bringing their guns into position, from 
where they had a severe enfilading fire upon our lino. As a 
protection againsl this, transverse earthworks had to be thrown 
up under a most destructive lire Maj. .1. M. Tucker. \\h<> had 
just been promoted from captain, and was in command of the 
Fifty-Seventh Regiment, was just in the act of giving us instruc- 



PETERSB UBG . 139 

tions about these works, when he was struck in the face by a 
musket ball and fell at our feet, the shot passing entirely through. 
As he was lying upon the ground unconscious, we supposed he 
was either killed or mortally wounded. He was sent out. The 
enemy's fire rapidly increased, while that of our own decreased, 
as the ammunition was giving out. Cartridge boxes were cut 
from the dead who were lying upon the field and their ammunition 
used until that, too, was expended. As our fire slackened, the 
enemy charged back upon us, and being out of ammunition, we 
were obliged to fall back to the ravine from whence the charge 
was made. 

The fighting of the 17th of June was mostly done by the 
Ninth Corps, and most of the advantage gained in front of Peters- 
burg was by this corps, whose lines were pushed closer to the 
enemy than any of the others. 

In this engagement the First Division was supported on the 
left by one division of the Fifth Corps, as well as the brigade of 
Colonel Christ. The charge was made about nine o'clock p.m., 
June 17th. There was nearly a full moon and the sky was cloud- 
less, so that it was nearly as light as day. Our division (First 
Division of the Ninth Army Corps) was commanded by the gallant 
Col. J. P. Gould of the 59th Massachusetts. No braver officer 
ever drew sword ; one who never said to his command " go" but 
" come," and he always led in person, finally sealing his devotion 
to his country with his life, as later, Aug. 22d, 1864, he died 
from the effects of wounds received in battle. No feeble words 
of ours can pay a sufficiently high tribute to his memory. He 
died in defense of his country and left a name honored and be- 
loved by friends and comrades. This encomium, truthfully and 
simply expressed, contains as much of eloquence as might be 
conveyed by flowery rhetoric. 

To command a division was unusual for a colonel. Such 
commands were exercised by a brigadier or major-general. It 
would seem more strange in this case where a brigadier-general 
was present who had commanded the division for nearly three 
weeks and was still on duty with it, but the fact was that 
the regular division commander was in no condition to exercise 



140 l'IKTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

command of anything at that time. The supply of artificial cour- 
age which he had taken carried him beyond the proper counter- 
poise and rendered him hors-de-combat, in which condition he 
remained in the ravine, from where his division had charged under 
command of Colonel Gould. Judging from the noise he made, 
one might think he was locked in a deadly struggle with the whole 
Confederate army. The lesson he learned at the battle of North 
Anna river taught him not to risk himself in another engagement 
trusting to "Dutch courage." 

The language employed in describing this officer may appear 
severe, but the facts in the case, as known to others who saw him, 
fully justify it and more too. It is not written with any feeling 
of malice, for we have no personal grievance. We only feel that 
in writing a history it is our duty to write the truth, and such has 
been our steady purpose. The truth in this matter has been told 
with all the charity it can bear. An officer of high standing, and 
one of strict integrity, who was serving upon his staff at the time 
of which Ave are writing, speaks of him as follows: " He was a 
good soul, but a very weak man, and no more fit to command a 
division than half the privates under him. The day we charged 
the lines of Confederate works in front of Petersburg (June 17th, 
L864), he laid in the little ravine behind the line all during the 
charge, too much under the influence of liquor to know what was 
going on. He staid in a bomb-proof in the Union lines during 
the operations attending the crater disaster." Such was the 
officer under whom the Fifty-Seventh had to serve for some time, 
to be pushed, not led, into battle. 

Resuming the narrative. Late on the night of the 1 7th < Jeneral 
Meade ordered an assault upon the enemy's works at four o'clock 
a.m. of the 18th, by the Second, Fifth and Ninth Corps. The 
troops moved forward promptly al the designated hour, a large 
proportion of the fighting again falling upon the Ninth. As the 
advance was made the enemy hastily abandoned the intrenchments 
that had been captured, the previous night, by the First Division of 
the Ninth Corps, Leaving their dead and many of their wounded 

to fall into OUT hands. At the angle where the battery was 
located, <>!' which previous mention has been made, the trenches 



PETERSBURG. 141 

were found filled with Confederate dead, while the surrounding 
ground was thickly covered with them. Looking back at the 
cornfield over which the charges had been made the previous day, 
it was found thickly strewn with the Federal dead, while the field 
of corn, which so recently had shown a peaceful husbandry, was 
now trampled into the bloody ground. Everything showed how 
desperate the engagement had been. Many dead Confederates 
were lying across each other in the same position in which they 
had fallen. The enemy had fallen back to a new position near 
the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. It now became our ob- 
ject to dislodge them from this. Their intrenchments were so 
constructed that when driven from one position they had another 
not far away into which they could get and still continue the 
fighting. 

The advance was now formed by corps from right to left in 
the following order : Second, Ninth and Fifth. Second Corps 
found itself nearer the enemy's works than the Fifth or Ninth. 
The two latter had to move forward nearly a mile through brush 
and timber and deep ravines. This rendered the contemplated 
simultaneous attack somewhat difficult of execution. General 
Meade finally fixed the hour for attack at twelve o'clock, noon 
(June 18th). At this time the Second Corps made two assaults, 
but was each time repulsed. In the meantime the Ninth and 
Fifth were engaged in driving the enemy out of a deep railroad 
cut of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. This took con- 
siderable time ; passing beyond, the ground to be crossed was 
exposed to the enemy's artillery. An assault was ordered in the 
afternoon with the whole available force. The Ninth Corps 
formed for the attack with the Third Division (Wilcox) in front, 
followed by the Second Division (Potter's) with the First Divi- 
sion in support. The assault was gallantly made, the enemy 
being driven through the woods and beyond the railroad cut, the 
possession of which was held by the Ninth Corps. This brought 
the two opposing lines nearer together here than at any other 
point. The Second Corps was again repulsed with considerable 
loss. The Fifth Corps also failed, though not through any fault 
of the brave officers and men who composed it. So far as com- 



142 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

parison goes one organization fought as well as another, the 
Ninth Corps, however, being the only one that succeeded in gain- 
ing any permanent advantage. It was not found advisable to 
attempt auy further assaults. The whole of Lee's army was now in 
front and strongly intrenched, and it became evident that Peters- 
burg could not be carried by direct attack. To continue around 
the circle any further by the flank would be only moving further 
awajr from the base of supplies, which had been transferred to 
City Point on the James river, just in rear of the Federal lines, 
where supplies of all kinds could be brought up the river by 
transports, without fear of molestation. A further movement to 
the left would have been a continual grinding, as it had been for 
the previous six weeks, against strongly fortified works, bravely 
and skilfully defended ; hence, at the close of the day of June 18th, 
1864, each corps remained in place where the lull of battle had 
found them, and commenced a long siege that was finally to ter- 
minate in the defeat and surrender of the Confederate army. 
Attention was now given to burying the dead. All the wounded 
had been removed as the advance was made. The Confederate 
wounded who fell into our hands had really nothing to regret, for 
they were better cared for by us than they possibly could have 
been had they not been captured, as the Confederate facilities for 
taking care of the wounded were beginning to get limited. 

Jn passing back over the cornfield, one of the first bodies to 
attract our attention was that of Sergt. John J. Cooley of 
Company A. Fifty-Seventh; a good soldier, a gallant man and 
a genial comrade. As his uncollined remains were placed in the 
shallow grave that had been dug for him in the cornfield, we 
thought of the time, but a few days before, when he was perform- 
in- the same sad duty for others. As he laid them carefully and 
tenderly away, he bad some kindly word of affection lor each. 
with one remark that we remember so well, kt I wonder who will 

do this for me?" Little did he then think that those words 
would he remembered for long years after, by one who helped 
perform that duty and whose duty it now is to pay a loving 
t ribute to his memory. 

The air was soil and balmy and laden with the sweet 

fragrance of the magnolia. All nature seemed wreathed in 



PETERSBURG. 



143 



lovely, peaceful smiles ; but the devastating path of war had left 
a picture which stood in horrid contrast. The dead were buried 
without form or ceremony, with no shroud save their own honored 
blue uniform and no farewell salute save the sullen roar of distant 
artillery. 

The loss to the Fifty-Seventh in this battle was very severe. 
It had been so depleted by previous losses that it only had one 
hundred and eighty men for duty before the engagement. This 
out of the nine hundred and twenty-eight with which the regiment 
had left Worcester, only a little over two months before. They 
had been left upon battlefields from the Wilderness down. The 
number of killed alone, including officers, was eighty-four, being 
nearly ten per cent of the one hundred and eighty it took into the 
battle of Petersburg June 17th. One officer, Lieut. Edwin I. 
Coe, and ten enlisted men were killed ; Captain Tucker, Captain 
Lawrence, Captain Doherty, Lieutenant Ward and twenty-six 
enlisted men wounded, with three enlisted men missing, making a 
total loss of forty-four. 

The followina; are the names of the enlisted men killed : — 



John J. Cooley, 


Sergt. 


Co. 


A 


Eli A. Elleck, Pvt. 


Co. H 


Silas N. Cook, 


Pvt. 


11 




Hiram Stre^ter, "• 


CI 


Cornelius Murphy, 


" 


" 




John Waters, " 


Co. I 


Heury Bills, 


" 


Co. 


D 


S. A. Byam, " 


Co. K 


Joseph J. Starr, 


it 


Co. 


G 


L. W. Rawson, " 


If 






WOUNDED. 




Adolphus Porter, 


Pvt. 


Co. 


A 


Charles A.Trowbridge, Serg 


t. Co. G 


Daniel V. Adams, 


" 


Co. 


B 


Horace S. Pike, Pvt. 


" 


John Bradley, 


" 


" 




David Charlesworth, "• 


" 


Charles L. Brigham, 


" 


" 




Edward J. Fogarty, " 


Co. H 


A. S. Gerry, 


(t 


" 




Henry M. Ide, Serg 


t. Co. I 


George F. Hood, 


" 


" 




(Afterwards 1st Lieutenant) 


Henry C. Hay den, 


It 


" 




James Bonner, Pvt. 


Co. I 


John Leary, 


a 


( ( 




William G. Elkins, " 


(( 


Martin Wait, 


It 


Co. 


C 


Charles Sedell, " 


" 


Henry G. Desautell, 


Corp. 


Co. 


E 


John B. Rogers, " 


Co. K 


John Southey, 


Pvt. 


Co. 


F 


(Died of wounds July 20. 


1864) 


Ozro A. Brigham, 


" 


" 




William Prentiss, Jr., Pvt. 


Co. K 


J. W. Farnsworth, 


" 


" 




(Died of wounds June 18, 


18G4) 


(Lost a le 


g) 






Edward M. Schneider, Pvt. 


Co. K 


Darby O'Brien, 


" 


i i 




(Died of wounds June 19, 


1SG4) 


Patrick McCarthy, 


" 


" 









144 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



MISSING. 

Louis Blanc-hard, Pvt. Co. C. 

Eleazer C. Drake, Pvt. Co. E. (Died at Andersonville June 30, 1864) 

Martin Ryan, Pvt. Co. F. 

This left the regiment with only one hundred and forty-one 
men present for duty. 

Lieut. Edwin I. Coe was born in Medway, Mass., March 2d, 
1845, and was nineteen years of age when commissioned a 2d 
Lieutenant in the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts. His father was 
a minister of the Unitarian Church, but had to give up the 
ministry on account of poor health. He moved to Worcester in 
1849, where young Coe was brought up and educated in the 
public schools. During the early part of the war he was anxious 
to serve under his country's flag in the army and enlisted in the 
olst Massachusetts at the age of eighteen, and was mustered out 
at the expiration of his term of service with an honorable record. 
Upon the organization of the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts he 
was appointed 2d Lieutenant to date from Dec. 31st, 1863, and 
was assigned to Company A. He was acting regimental adjutant 
at the time he was killed. He was a young man of excellent 
character, fond of the military service, zealous and ambitious in 
the faithful performance of duty, loved and esteemed by all who 
knew him. He carried a high sense of honor from civil to mili- 
tary life, and would, without doubt, have gaiued a higher rank, 
had his life been spared. There was one remarkable coincidence 
in his case. In the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, May 
12th, he was struck by a spent musket ball and was seen to throw 
up both hands and fall. The line passed on to the charge and 
we reported him to Colonel Chandler as having been killed, 
supposing that such was the case; but in a few moments he 
rejoined the regiment, saying thai he had only been stunned for a 
few seconds; after recovering and finding that he was not badly 
hurt, lie followed up to participate in the rest of the engagement. 
Just before the charge at Petersburg, June 17th, in speaking to 
ns of the coming battle, he said that he had a very singular and 
vivid dream the night before, in which he portrayed the events of 
the Coming battle and said, while he was not a believer in dreams, 



PETERSBURG 145 

yet that had come to him with such realistic force that he knew it 
to be a premonition. He could not be shaken in the belief that 
he was to be killed that night. He said, to convince us that he 
knew it, that he would be hit in the same place as by the spent 
ball at Spottsylvania. He went forward with the regiment fully 
convinced that he would be killed. His premonition proved 
correct. The line had not advanced far before he fell, the ball 
striking him in the same place the other did. His brother, who 
belonged to the 11th U.S. Infantry, also in the Army of the 
Potomac, came the next day and took charge of his remains, 
which were buried upon the field near where he fell. After the 
close of the war, they were disinterred and placed in the National 
Cemetery near there. 

The intrepid Captain Doherty was there. When the line 
charged he was leading his men with his usual enthusiasm. It 
was not very long before he was struck and one hand badly 
mangled. Coming up to us and shaking the mangled hand in 
our face, with the blood streaming and one finger dangling by a 
shred of mutilated flesh, he said he wanted to have us see what 

"the d d rebels had done." When advised to go back to the 

hospital he replied, " Do you think I am going to desert the 
boys now? no sir, not until we get that battery," and he kept 
his word. 

Captain Tucker had been promoted to major only a few days 
before. His wound was peculiarly painful, cutting away part of 
his tongue and jaw, depriving him at first of the power of speech, 
but from which he partially recovered, returning to the regiment 
later with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Captain Lawrence, 
who had just recovered from a wound in the neck, received at the 
battle of the Wilderness, and had just returned to the regiment, 
was wounded in the leg. General Burnside paid a very high 
compliment to the attacking force in this engagement. 

One incident of pathetic interest connected with this battle, 
is that of a noble, heroic young lad of seventeen years, Private 
Edward M. Schneider of Company K. His father was Rev. Benja- 
min Schneider, D.D., a missionary in Antab, Turkey. The story 
of his death has been told before, but as it belougs to the regi- 

10 



146 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

ment it is entitled to a place here, and can be better told in the 
language of Chaplain A. II. Dashiell, who was with him in his 
last hours. In a letter to young Schneider's sister, who was in 
this country at the time, the chaplain writes : — 

Hospital, First Division, Ninth Army Corps, 

Near Petersburg, Va. 
My Dear Mrs. Dwight : 

I promised when I wrote briefly announcing Edward's death to give 
you the particulars as soon as I could find time for the purpose. Now, 
after burying those who were mortally wounded (thirty-eight) and sending 
ofl'to Washington six hundred more, I take time to perform this sacred 
duty. It seems from what I can learn that Edward, when the order to 
charge was given, pushed on in advance of the company, determined to 
be the first to mount the enemy's works ; and, when within a few paces 
of them and ten feet ahead of his company, he fell, shot through the 
abdomen. As soon as he was brought to the hospital he sent for 
me and I did what I could for his comfort, though he and hundreds of 
others were obliged to lie on the ground, as thick as autumnal leaves. 
The next day when I could learn more accurately the nature of the wounds, 
I discovered that they were mortal, and when pressed by him to know 
what I thought, my tears revealed to him the truth. 1 thought of that 
sister who with tears had commended him to me, and that noble father 
far away. I could not restrain them. Soon Doctor White, Surgeon of 
the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, and Mr Westwood came up and con- 
firmed my opinion, and he expressed his hearty acquiescence in the will 
of God. The captain of his company came up, and when asked what 
message he should bear back to his companions, said : " Tell them to 
stand by the clear old flag," with a touching tenderness in his tone. 
When told that he had but a few hours to live he looked up at me with 
a -mile, and repeated the verse of the song, which is sung by the 
soldiers : — 

Soon with angels I'll be marching, 
Willi blight laurels on my brow ; 

I have for my country fallen, 
Who will care for sister now? 

In the original lines it is "mother." You understand th« change. I pul 
iiiin in charge of m\ servant, as other duties called me away, In the 

e\eiiiny he sent, for me: indeed, poor fellow, I could not go near him 
without his calling to me. 1 was all he had to Cling to of home and 

friends excepting those be made a1 the time. 1 sat down beside him in 

a Slbly lent, whither he had been removed, and he gave me these mes- 
sages to you, first, he desired me to assure bis father and you that lie 
died happy in the Lord, in the fulness of hope to which I can bear 



PETERSBURG. 



147 



testimony. His face shone like an angel's ; God had been disciplining 
him and preparing him for glory, as I have remarked, for weeks 
past, as we have passed through these terrible scenes of battle and 
suffering. 

He said that he had done his duty to his country and felt happy in 

that too. He then adverted to you and to A , told me his relation 

to her, the tenderness of his fraternal attachment to her .... * and 
this message to his brothers : " Stand by the clear old flag and cling to the 
cross of Christ." .... Before dawn I was up getting the wounded into 
wagons and ambulances to be removed to City Point and he sent me a 
message to come to him. I was so engaged that I could not go at the 
moment. I said "presently." In a few moments I went and he was 
gone. I stood and wept. 

After breakfast I took my burying party and prepared graves for 
many besides him, but I could not bury him in a trench with the rest, so 
I dug his grave beside a tree about a rod from the public road and nailed 
a board, on which Mr. Westwood inscribed: "Ed. M., son of Rev. 
Doctor Schneider of Antab, Turkey, of Company K, Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry," and having closed the grave, I 
left him to await the great summons which is to awaken us all. 

He greatly impressed all who came near him with the sweetness of 
his spirit, and the calm bravery with which he met death. I forgot to 
say that when he requested me to publish a notice of his death, he wished 
me to understand that it was not to give notoriety to his name but to 
acquaint his numerous friends of his death .... 
Your brother in Christ, 

A. H. DASHIELL, Jr., 

Chaplain, 57th Mass. 

The war correspondent (Carleton) of the Boston Journal, 
after learning the facts in Schneider's case from the chaplain, 
wrote the following beautiful tribute to his memory : — 

" On the march from Annapolis, though but seventeen years 
old and unaccustomed to hardships, Schneider kept his place in the 
ranks, not once falling out, from the waters of the Chesapeake to 
the Rapidan. He was slightly wounded at the battle of North 
Anna and was sent to the hospital, but when badgered by one 
of his comrades as to the slightness of the wound, he returned 
to the front at Cold Harbor, though the flesh wound was unhealed 
and painful. While preparing for the charge on the enemy's 
works, with the purpose of removing any suspicion of his courage, 



* The omission refers to the disposition of his effects.— J. A. 



148 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

he said, ' I mean to be the first to mount the enemy's breast- 
works.' The charge was made, how grandly they moved through 
the woods, how swiftly they swept up to the line of rebel works, 
like an ocean billow upon a breakwater, rolling over and engulf- 
ing all. The brave boy determined to make good his words. 
With eager step he led the advance, breaking out from the line. 
He was almost near enough to feel the hot flash of the rebel 
musketry in his face, near enough to be covered with the sul- 
phurous cloud from the cannon, when he fell shot through the 
body 

" On the 17th of June, eighty-nine years ago, the sires of 
freedom gave their lives on Bunker Hill for God and their native 
land. Not less worthy of remembrance are those who fell in 
front of Petersburg on this memorable day. His dying words, 
' Stand by the dear old flag and cling to the cross of Christ,' em- 
blems of all we hold dear on earth and in heaven, will live as long 
as the flag shall wave and the cross of Christ is known." 

Only a private soldier, but, oh, how grand and noble ! Did 
ever armored knight or plumed warrior win a clearer title to the 
laurel crown ? The poor boy gave his young life so full of hope 
and promise to his beloved country. Others there were, yes, 
hundreds and thousands, who fell just as bravely and nobly in 
the front rank, and their lives passed out amid the din and roar 
of battle with no parting valedictory to immortalize their names, 
but they left an imperishable record which coming generations will 
honor, and love the flag and country more, when they realize what 
sacrifices have been made for them. Such blood given to such a 
cause is never shed in vain, it is woven into the very fabric of our 
government. As long as our manhood lives, so long will the 
memory of such men remain the life and hope and strength of 
American patriotism. 

Letters carelessly written from the front at such a time have 
become of more value since, as transmitting the thoughts and 

feelings of the army during those times. A Letter written by Cap- 
tain Barton to his friends in Worcester gives a verycorreel picture 
of the battle scene of the l 7th of June : — 



petersburg. 149 

In Line of Battle near Petersburg, Va., 

June 20th, 1864. 
Dear 

I know you must feel anxious about me, for in my last letter of the 
17th, I told you that we were " going in" to make a charge. The order 
came about four o'clock in the afternoon that the First Division of the 
Ninth Corps was to charge upon the enemy's breastworks at sundown. 
The Second Division had already made one charge and was driven back 
with a heavy loss and now the First Division has to try it. The chances 
were certainly very dubious. The general who now commands our divi- 
sion sent word by one of his start' officers that he depended upon his old 
first brigade, our brigade. We laid down upon our arms in a ravine for 
nearly two hours, so that we had plenty of time to think of our chances 
for coming out all right. About eight o'clock the order came for us to 
advance to the level ground beyond the ravine and then to lie down and 
wait for the order ''Forward." It was a trying moment; watches and 
other valuables were handed to one who was not going in. I handed him 
my watch scarcely expecting to see it again. The shot and shell were 
flying around us in good style, for the " rebs " had a good range upon 
us, but as we were lying clown only few were wounded. Now comes a 
little personal matter. I laid with my company just in a hollow exposed 
to a raking fire of artillery and musketry. As I was looking out for my 
men, cautioning them to lie low, I overheard someone say "Look out." 
I glanced to the left and saw a solid shot coming directly towards me. 
I had just time enough to whirl over on my left side, when it struck just 
in the place where I was lying, grazing my right arm and tearing my 
coat sleeve almost entirely off", smashing a musket belonging to Sergeant 
McFarland and covering my 1st sergeant with sand. Two or three of 
our officers came running to me, thinking I was either killed or badly 
wounded. I was advised by the commanding officer, Captain Tucker, to 
go to the rear, which of course I declined to do when I found it was 
only a slight contusion. In about ten minutes the order " Attention ! " 
came, then " Forward, double-quick ! " and through such a fire of grape 
and canister, solid shot, railroad iron, minies and I do not know what 
all. With a regular Yankee yell we went through it and upon the rebel 
intrenchments ; then it was "blaze away." The rebs were staggered, 
the movement was too rapid and impetuous. It was amusing to see 
some of our boys grab a reb, " hustle" him over the rifle pits and take 
him to the rear as a prisoner. They did not seem at all loath to be 
taken, but many of them rushed into our lines of their own free will. 
We held the works until our ammunition gave out and then were obliged 
to fall back. We lost in that charge ten enlisted men killed, twenty-six 
wounded and three missing .... We are to have an inspection this 
morning, so I cannot stop to write more. General Burnside said he ex- 
pected we would be repulsed, as he thought the position too strong to be 
carried by infantry. 



150 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Preparations were now made for a regular siege. Heavy 
guns and mortars were brought up, placed in position and com- 
menced dropping shells into the enemy's works, some into 
Petersburg. With our close proximity the city could have been 
destroyed, but Lee's army, and not this, was the objective upon 
which the blows were to fall. Both armies now went to work to 
strengthen their positions. Intrenchments were dug. These con- 
sisted of redoubts, connected by lines of infantry parapets, in 
front of which were ditches, abatis and other obstacles to protect 
the works from a sortie by the enemy. "While this was going on 
a constant firing was kept up by both sides along the picket line 
and the artillery on the main line. 

A brief description of the line of intrenchments may not be 
out of place. First, a trench would be dug about three feet deep 
and from six to eight in width. The earth thus removed was 
thrown toward the front, the inner face being supported by hori- 
zontal logs, which prevented the embankment from falling back 
again into the trench. After the embankment had been raised in 
this way about five or six feet, sacks were filled with sand and 
placed upon the top until it had reached the required elevation, 
high enough to protect a man standing in rear ; the line of parapets 
thus constructed, running in broken lines, forming projecting 
angles at irregular intervals, with the apices pointing towards the 
enemy, in which artillery was placed in such a way as to bring 
both a front and flank fire upon any charging column. The 
ditch, abatis and chevaux de frise in front have heretofore been 
described. Often loopholes were left between the rows of sand- 
bags, at convenient intervals, for the purpose of observation. 
No musketry firing was permitted from the main line of works, as 
it would not only be a Avaste of ammunition, but would endanger 
the safety of our <>wu pickets in front. 

Interior works were also constructed in which were placed 
mortar guns. These were short cannon, with a very large bore 
and firing heavy shells. They were placed in position at an 
elevated angle of about forty-five degrees. During the darkness 
of nighl the mortar firing became rather interesting. A heavy 
boom could lie heard from the Confederate side, when almost 



PETERSBURG. 151 

instantly the burning fuse, attached to the projectile, could be seen 
rapidly ascending like a very red star, describing a curved line 
until reaching its greatest altitude, then commencing to fall. As 
the propelling force became expended it would fall to the ground 
in a nearly vertical line. They would explode with great force 
soon after falling. These could be easily dodged at night by 
watching the direction taken, as shown by the burning fuse, but in 
the day the fuse could not be seen, hence they often proved 
destructive. Answering shots went from our own side. Watch- 
ing their course through the sky they could be seen to drop inside 
the enemy's works, and soon after their explosion could be 
heard. 

Parallel and transverse works were constructed and passage- 
ways left which could be opened and closed to permit the picket 
details to go out or in. The pickets were posted about two or 
three hundred yards in front of the main line, and had to be 
posted and relieved after dark each night. An attempt to post 
them during the clay would probably result in the killing of every 
man. The pickets had little holes dug in the ground, just about 
large enough to hold two or three men. Upon the approach 
of daylight everyone had to keep concealed ; any exposure 
would almost surely result in getting hit. These holes were at 
convenient distances from each other; once in, after daylight, 
and the men had to remain there until after dark. As the sun 
approached the meridian these holes became intensely hot, but 
there was nothing to do but bear it. The pickets along the lines 
kept up a constant firing. Little loopholes were arranged through 
which they could fire and at the same time observe what was 
going on in front. The men remaining back in the trenches 
could protect themselves from the sun by stretching pieces of 
shelter tents from the breastworks over the trench. The officers 
were just behind the men ; several of them would join together 
and have a hole dug in the ground, about two or three feet deep, 
and twelve or fourteen wide, the top covered with logs, and over 
these the earth from the excavation would be thrown. These 
proved a partial protection from the enemy's mortars, but were 
excessively hot during the clay, so that tent flies were erected 



152 



FIFTY-SEVENTH RElilMKXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



outside. Day after clay the sinews of war closed tighter aud 
stronger around the doomed Confederacy. Our own works were 
made strong in order that they could be held by a reduced force, 
so that large bodies could be spared to operate towards the 
enemy's flank and, if possible, sever his communications with the 
South and thereby cut off one great source by which he obtained 
his supplies. 

On the 21st the right of the Ninth Corps was extended to 
cover the positions held by the Second and Sixth and to connect 
with the left of the Eighteenth Corps. The Second and Sixth 
proceeded to operate towards the Weldon Railroad. In the mean- 
time, the Fourth Division (colored) of the Ninth Corps joined 
from detached duty guarding the wagon trains, and took its place 
in the trenches. The arrival of colored troops in their front 
seemed to provoke the Confederates to increased anger, which 
they manifested by constant and persistent firing along that 
portion of the line which they occupied, it being heavier and more 
malicious here than at any other point. Every day, during this long 
siege, could be called one of battle, as there was not a day when 
it was safe for a head to appear where the enemy could see it, or 
a day without casualties. It is not our purpose to follow the 
movements of all the different corps and divisions of the army 
during this period, only those in which the Fifty-Seventh partici- 
pated. Duty in the trenches was anything but pleasant, and no 
one, but those who went through it, can realize the trying ordeal 
which those men endured who were on the picket line. The pickets 
were relieved every twenty-four hours, so that the same men were 
not there all the time. The details were so arranged that each 
man's turn would come about every four or five days. Posted at 
night, the men took their canteens full of water, and rations to 
carry them through the day. ( >uce then 1 , sick or well, they could 
only gel bach after dark. The constant crack of the rifle, the 
whiz of the sharpshooters' Indict and the deep booming mortars 
rendered everything very unsafe that came near the front. 

Reference has been made to the sinking of the barge, 
General McClellan, en route from Yorktown to City Point, with 
officers 1 baggage, company and regimental records, etc. The 



PETERSBURG. 153 

loss of the records was not regretted so much at the time as the 
loss of the clothing. There was much inconvenience resulting 
from this and the officers had to get along the best they could 
until the arrival of a new supply from home. The loss of the 
records proved a never-ending source of complications when 
muster rolls had to be made out, and is now a great obstacle 
to contend with in writing a complete history. 

The regiment continued to occupy the trenches that had 
been captured from the enemy June 17th and 18th, no serious 
engagement taking place up to July 30th. During this time 
many of the officers and men who had been away on account of 
sickness or wounds, having recovered, returned to duty ; but the 
number who were killed and those who were taken away by 
wounds or sickness, kept the regiment gradually growing smaller 
and smaller. The number returning did not make good the losses. 
During the interval between June 17th and July 30th, the regi- 
ment lost one officer killed and five wounded. 

The Second and Sixth Corps now commenced operations to 
gain possession of the Weld on Railroad, but were attacked by the 
Confederates and repulsed, with a loss of about two thousand 
men, four guns and several stands of colors, subsequently ad- 
vancing and regaining the position from which they had been 
driven, and intrenching about a mile and a half from the railroad. 
The two armies now remained in their relative positions for 
several weeks. From the very beginning of the campaign the 
tide of battle had rolled steadily towards the left and continued so, 
with few exceptions, to the end. Many incidents of that long and 
bloody siege will ever be remembered. The Fifty-Seventh con- 
tinued to give and take. There was no cessation ; night and day 
the dogs of war continued to bark. The old and familiar saying 
that " barking dogs never bite " was not true in this case. 

Extracts from private letters written home from the regiment 
at that time will, no doubt, prove of interest to many of our 
readers, as they express the situation and feelings of our men 
better than anything else. One written July 3d, signed " G.F.S.," 
speaks of the programme for the coming National holiday 
(July 4th) in the following humorous style: "We are lying just 



154 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

before Petersburg. Tomorrow is Jul} 7 4th I guess there 

will be some length}' orations delivered here by the speakers of 
the times. Mr. ' Parrot,' Mr. ' Mortar,' Mr. ' Columbiad ' and 
several gentlemen from Springfield will address the multitude. 
Their arguments are very weighty and will undoubtedly make a 
great impression upon Confederate minds. Mr. Grant of Illinois 
will be president of the ceremonies and his ability to preserve 
o-ood order is well known. He will, however, be assisted by 
strong bodies of police under command of Generals Meade, 
Burnside, Hancock, Smith and Butler. In the evening there will 
be a grand display of fireworks, such as was never before witnessed. 
The committee, of which Abraham Lincoln is chairman, has 
arranged everything so as to make it one of the grandest affairs 
of the age. We are all confident that no pains will be spared on 
the part of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Grant to make it pass off in a 
satisfactory manner." 

A letter written the day after the 4th of July, signed 
'* G. E. B." gives a very good description of our situation. " After 
all we passed a very quiet 4th, with just enough firing to make it 
seem natural. The sharpshooters kept up a continuous tire, which 
made it almost dangerous to be safe. There seems to be very 
little going on at present in front of us. The pickets are regularly 

relieved every night The process of relieving pickets is 

this : the new pickets are ordered to report to the brigade officer 
of the day, at the right and rear of the brigade line, about eight 
o'clock in the evening, the detail consisting of two lieutenants and 
one hundred men from our brigade. After having reported to 
the officer of the day he sees that they are properly divided into 
two divisions of fifty men each and places a lieutenant in charge 
of each division, then gives his instructions. The old officer of 
the day and we start for the picket line. By this time it is almost 
pitch darkness and we go stumbling along through the woods 
until we reach the outer edge, where an open field lias to be 
crossed before we can reach Our Old pickets who are waiting 
anxiously to be relieved, for they have been out all day ill a 
broiling sun, to say nothing of all the night before. A heavy 
fog has settled upon the Held, which renders it almost impossible 



PETERSBURG. 155 

for the "Johnnies" to see us distinctly, nevertheless the bullets 
sing around our heads very unpleasantly. Having crossed the 
field we find ourselves just under the brow of a hill. Here we 
form into line and the officer of the picket gives the men their 
orders. The line must be held at all hazards, there being no 
retreat. No man is to discharge his rifle unless he sees some- 
thing to fire at. The pickets then deploy from the right and left 
and take possession of the pits, which are just large enough to 
hold two men. The men from the old picket then creep carefully 
out, take the ' double quick' down the hill, every man for him- 
self. ' Zip,' ' zip ' go the bullets after them, but what in the day- 
time would be sure death, at night is uncertain." 

July 19 th 1st Lieut. E. Dexter Cheney was shot through the 
head by a Confederate sharpshooter, and almost instantly killed. 
Several of us had arranged to get up early that morning and go 
out to witness the firing of the mortar guns. When the time came 
we had to look out for getting the breakfast, while the others 
were either too lazy or had lost their inclination, hence he started 
off alone. In about ten minutes a man came running back with 
the information that he had been killed. Several of us ran to 
him as quickly as possible and found him lying upon the ground 
with the brains and blood oozing from the wound through the 
head. Nothing could be done for him and he expired in a few 
moments. His remains were embalmed and sent to his home in 
AVorcester, Mass., where his parents resided, and he was buried 
from the Salem Street Congregational Church, July 28th. 

Lieutenant Cheney first enlisted in Company F of the 51st 
Massachusetts in the autumn of 1862, and was appointed a 
sergeant in the same company. He served in that regiment with 
honor until discharged by reason of expiration of term of service. 
Very soon thereafter he was recommended to His Excellency, 
Governor Andrew, for a commission, and was appointed a first 
lieutenant in the Fifty-Seventh, at the age of twenty-one, 
Dec. 31st, 1863. He was a young man of high personal 
character and greatly esteemed, of a quiet, thoughtful disposition 
and one who always acted from conscientious motives without 
regard to whether they were in popular favor or not ; strictly 



156 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

temperate, kind and considerate of others, a zealous officer, and 
loyal in his devotion to friends. He was one of those who could 
always be relied upon and whose worth grew from clay to clay in 
the estimation of those with whom he was associated. His death 
was deeply lamented by the whole regiment. 

After having remained in the front line for a long time the 
regiment was withdrawn (about July 20th) from this arduous 
duty and placed in the second line, about one half mile in rear 
of the first. The besieging force being formed in two lines, 
there was not as much clanger from the sharpshooters in the 
second line, but more from the mortar firing. Many were killed 
and wounded by fragments from the bursting ten-inch shells 
which frequently dropped into the trenches. 

July 20th, a shell fired from a Confederate mortar exploded 
in the trenches occupied by the Fifty-Seventh, creating con- 
siderable havoc. 1st Sergt. Charles L. De Fose (afterwards 
2d lieutenant) and Corp. Samuel Airman of Company C were 
wounded. The latter was struck by a piece of shell about the 
size of a man's hand, making a ghastly wound in his face and 
badly lacerating his left arm. 

The Confederates seemed to be unusually active and continued 
sending their shells into our lines with but few intermissions. 

The regiment did not remain long in the second line, but 
soon returned to the front and took up the work of holding the 
advanced works and picket duty again. 

The breech-loading magazine rifles had been received, with 
which Company K was armed and placed under command of 
1st Lieut. John II. Cook. July 22d Lieutenant Cook worked his 
way over the parapets, and partly concealed by large trees, gained 
a position from which he could get a good range upon the enemy, 
for the purpose of testing the new repeating rifle, which at thai time 
was quite a novelty and looked upon with considerable confidence. 
In stepping from behind a tree to fire he became exposed to a 
Confederate sharpshooter, whose unerring aim sent a bullel into 

his body, penetrating his left side. It was afterwards extracted 
near the spine. This wound was considered of such a serious 

character thai faint hopes were entertained of his recovery. He 




JOHN H. COOK, 



1st Lieut. 57th Mass., Bvt. Maj. U S. Vols. 



PETERSBURG 157 

was taken to the hospital where, for days, he hovered between life 
and death, but through the skilful treatment of Surgeon Whitman 
V. White, good nursing and an indomitable will, united with a 
strong, healthy constitution, he recovered sufficiently to be 
removed to Washington, where he was joined by his mother and 
taken to his home in Massachusetts, where he survived for many 
years, but subsequently died from complications arising from the 
effects of his wound. 

About this time 1st Lieut. John L. Goodwin, who had been 
absent on account of a wound received in the battle of the 
Wilderness, returned and took command of his company ; but in 
less than forty-eight hours after joining, received another through 
the foot, breaking several of the smaller bones and disabling him 
from further duty as an infantry man. He was discharged 
Nov. 29th, 1864. Prior to his discharge he had been pro- 
moted to the grade of captain to date July 31st, 1864, but was 
not mustered as such, on account of a War Department order that 
no officer should be mustered while absent from his command, and 
he was not able to return to it. 

The constant firing and shelling between the lines increased 
the number of casualties. 1st Sergt. E. D. McFarland was shot 
through both wrists. Within six daj T s two officers were killed 
and six wounded. 

The sufferings from heat and exposure endured by the men 
in the trenches and on the picket line, from the 17th of June to 
the 30th of July, can never be described. The hospital records 
give only a faint idea of them. Sleeping in holes dug in the 
ground, exposed to the hot rays of the sun at one time and rains 
at another, produced considerable sickness. We have passed the 
sick list with hardly a mention, our space having been devoted to 
those killed and wounded. Many died from sickness and suffered 
as much as those who were wounded. There was a feeling of 
pride against going to the hospital, except with a wound, hence 
many sick ones remained in the trenches and suffered day after 
day before giving up. 

The facilities for keeping clean were very meagre. Under 
such circumstances it is not surprising that many became infested 



158 



ITFTY-SEYENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



with a loathsome insect, which occupied a considerable portion of 
each day to get rid of. Every morning, before it became hot, 
men could be seen in the trenches with some portion of their 
clothing off, turned inside out, and carefully hunting along the 
seams, with all their thoughts concentrated upon their new enemy, 
which was named in honor of the Confederates, " gray backs," 
because while their bite was not quite so fatal, yet they were about 
as annoying. Many who had been reared in the luxury of refined 
homes counted it no dishonor to battle with this new adversary, 
as long as it was in the service of their country. It was a pictur- 
esque sight and became the source of much fun and many 
jokes. The matter was looked upon philosophically. There was 
very little complaining or grumbling ; any disposition to do this 
was put to shame by some cheerful minded comrade who would 
ask a would-be growler how he would like to exchange for 
Andersonville. The very sound of that name would put the 
worst among them to shame and cause all their sufferings to 
pale into insignificance and eventually appear as blessings in 
comparison. 

There was not an army in the field better cared for than the 
Army of the Potomac. The rations were good in quality and 
ample in quantity. Fresh vegetables were issued twice a week 
and everything possible was done for the health and comfort of 
the men, and they realized it. But there is really no soft, up- 
holstered side to real war. The silken drapery that lends to it a 
distant charm is never found in fact, and exists only in romantic 
fancy. 

Besides what our government did for the soldiers there were 
those two noble institutions, supported by the generous and loyal 
people of the North, the Christian and Sanitary Commissions. 
The good which they accomplished was incalculable. No honor- 
able soldier ever turned to them with vain pleading. Their out- 
stretched arms relieved every wanl and every pain as far as human 
strength could do. There were tender-hearted nurses, ladies of 
refinement, Who were found in all the hospitals to do a woman's 
pari ; the Sisters of Charity Hitting here and there among the 
wounded and Buffering: women whose characters were so pure and 



PETERSBURG. 



159 



spotless that not a shadow of suspicion could enter even the 
thoughts of brave and honorable men. Such influences extended 
through every regiment and company in the army. It seemed as 
if the soldiers' friends from home were there to administer to 
them ; it showed them that they were not forgotten, it showed 
that there was a great reservoir of loyalty behind from which they 
could draw. It helped all those who needed it and encouraged all 
others. 

As we pass along before the picture of life in the trenches, 
we suddenly come to points of more than usual interest — one 
which we will look at but momentarily, the 24th of July, 1864. 
There was a small "bomb-proof," about twenty feet behind the 
trenches, occupied by the regiment. It was about twelve feet 
square and just high enough for a short man to stand erect inside. 
It being rather of a hot hole in which to spend the day, a small 
arbor was built just outside and covered with branches and old 
canvas as a protection from the sun. Several officers occupied 
this together, sitting under the arbor during the day. The location 
was just to the left of one of our batteries, at which the Con- 
federates were throwing ten-inch mortar shells, as a return com- 
pliment for what they were receiving. We were sitting on an 
empty cracker box under the arbor, while near us were Captain 
Galucia of the 56th Massachusetts, who was brigade officer of the 
day, and Lieutenants Barton and Royce lying upon a blanket 
spread upon the ground, all chatting and reading a batch of 
papers that had just been received, when Lieutenant Bowman 
joined us from the hospital. Presently he said that Lieutenant 
Cook, who was in the hospital badly wounded and not expected 
to live, was very anxious to see us. We jumped up and started 
at once. As we went out Lieutenant Bowman took our seat on 
the cracker box and commenced writing a letter to a young lady 
to whom, it was said, he was engaged. We had proceeded but a 
short distance when a loud explosion was heard. Turning quickly 
around we saw a cloud of smoke and dust arising from our 
" bomb-proof." Upon returning it was found in ruins. All the 
officers whom we had left there, together with Acting Sergeant- 
Major Doty, were in the debris and all more or less injured. As 



160 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

there had been many rumors of mining and countermining, we 
were at first under the impression that the enemy had undertaken 
to blow up the fort, and missing his engineering calculations, had 
taken our "bomb-proof" instead. It was soon discovered, how- 
ever, that the destruction had been caused by a mortar shell in- 
tended for the battery and which had fallen into the little arbor 
in the midst of the group of officers. There was no warning 
sound ; the destroying messenger fell swiftly and silently into 
their midst and exploded directly in front of Lieutenant Bowman, 
inflicting wounds which caused his death, after some hours of 
intense suffering ; one leg and thigh had been broken and badly 
mutilated, besides other injuries. Capt. Warren B. Galucia was 
wounded in both feet; Lieut. Charles H. Royce had his left leg 
badly burnt and filled with small particles of powder and sand ; 
Lieutenant Barton and Sergeant-Major Doty were only slightly 
bruised. 

The remains of Lieutenant Bowman were embalmed and sent 
to his home, Clinton, Mass. The funeral services were held in 
the Unitarian Church Aug. 5th, 1864, and he was buried with 
military honors. 

Lieut. Samuel M. Bowman had formerly served as a 
member of Company A, 5 1st Massachusetts, and came to the 
Fifty-Seventh with a good military record, which he maintained. 
He was considered an excellent and trustworthy officer, one who 
was greatly respected as a comrade and friend. His name will 
ever be honored with others who died for their country. 

July 23d Colonel Bartlett came back, as Brigadier-General, 
and was assigned to the command of our brigade, First Brigade 
of the Firsl Division of the Ninth Army Corps. Every our, from 
the officers down to the privates, seemed glad to see him back; all 
fell that they now had a permanent commander upon whom the}' 
could rely and who would take an interest in them; one who 
would go with them in battle. They also fell proud thai he had 
won the star while in command of the Fifty-Seventh, although the 
brigade had been in excellent hands while under the command of 
Colonel Gould, yet he was not looked upon as its permanent 
commander. 



PETERSBURG . 161 

If General Bartlett had taken the division there is little 
doubt that it would have given as much satisfaction to it, as did 
his command of the brigade. During his absence he had lost the 
music of the singing bullet, but soon learned it again. 

We quote a few extracts from a private letter written by him 
the day he joined : — " There are now six Massachusetts regiments 
and one Pennsylvania in the brigade, not numbering more than 
thirteen hundred men altogether, present for duty. If the regi- 
ments were filled up it would be one of the largest and best 
brigades in the army .... The brigade is in two lines of 
breastworks one hundred yards apart, in front of the enemy's 
works and within two hundred yards in some places. Brigade 
headquarters are two hundred and fifty yards in rear of the 
brigade. Division headquarters two hundred yards in rear of 
brigade (headquarters) .... The headquarters have to be 
protected by a stockade of logs against bullets, which are con- 
stantly coming through here. Four officers of the Fifty-Seventh 
have been hit since I got here — one killed, three very badly 
wounded, in the second line. Our stockade does not protect us 
against shells which fall in front and rear of us ... . The 
bullets patter like rain at times against the outside of this 
stockade .... It is a continual rattle of musketry, sometimes 
swelling into a roar along the line, and varied with the artillery 
and mortars .... People of the North who are enjoying 
themselves and thinking of nothing but making money, little 
appreciate what this brave army is enduring every clay and hour 
for them, and how much more cheerful and hopeful they are than 
people at home. I wish some of them would come here and spend 
a week, even back at my headquarters. They would not care to 
go down to the lines where the men are day and night fighting for 
their safety. I came over this morning and assumed command. 
Tomorrow I must go down and examine the lines, which is, of 
course, dangerous .... I shall not go there any oftener than 
necessary, but it is my duty to visit them occasionally. To give 
you an idea of the firing that is going on constantly, I will count 
the shots in the next minute. It is more quiet than usual tonight. 
Eighty-one and one heavy mortar shell, which burst in the air 

11 



162 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



between here and second line, but sounded as if it were in the 
next tent. I have a good band at headquarters and it plays at 
intervals through the day and eveniug, protected by a stockade. 
The k rebs ' have the benefit of it as much as I do, but I can't 
help it ; they favor us with a band sometimes. ' Zip, prrrr ' goes 
another bullet .... Bullets flying very lively tonight." 

General Bartlett writes the next day, July 24th: "■ . . . . 
I got back safely from the lines. Just before I went there a 
captain of the 56th and two lieutenants of the Fifty-Seventh were 
badly wounded by a shell which fell and exploded where they 
were sitting. Lieutenant Bowman of the Fifty-Seventh cannot 
live. This makes six officers of the Fifty-Seventh who have been 
killed or badly wounded since I have been here. It is too bad. 
The firing has not ceased since I wrote you last ; nor, indeed, 
since I got within sound of it. The bullets are singing around 
my tent as usual. ' Spat ' — there goes one into a tree, making 
the bark fly." 

Orders were received on the 2f>th for an inspection and 
review the following day. The regiment was moved back to the 
second line and the work of cleaning muskets and brushing up 
clothing commenced. The facilities for doing with were very few, 
and the few hard to get, yet everyone did the best he could, and 
at 2 o'clock p.m. the brigade was formed in line and passed in 
review before General Ledlie, General Bartlett commanding. 
The review took place some distance in rear of the line, beyond 
the reach of the enemy's lire. General Bartlett remarked of it, 
"Did not make a very good appearance; officers, even of old 
regiments, ignorant." 

<)n the L'lst of .Inly, Napoleon B. McLaughlin was appointed 
colonel of the Fit' ty-Sevent li Massachusetts to succeed General 
Bartlett, bul did not join to take command until some time after. 

The regiment was commanded by ('apt. (afterwards Maj.) 
Allieit Prescotl from June L7th to July 80th. During all this 
time the Bring was kepi up continually, the same as described l»y 

Genera] Bartlett, except that it was worse and far more de- 
structive in the front line <>f rifle pits than hack at brigade head- 
quarters, the casualties in the regiment being two officers killed 




JOHN L. GOODWIN, 



Capt. 57th Mass. 



PETERSBURG. 



163 



and four wounded : Lieutenant Bowman and Lieutenant Cheney 
killed, Lieutenants Goodwin, Cook, Royce and Kennay wounded. 
Five enlisted men killed and eighteen wounded. This from the 
one hundred and thirty left after the assault of June 17th, as 
follows : — 

Daniel Flynn, Pvt. Co. A. (killed July 8th, 1864). 

George R. Hubbard, Pvt. Co. B (killed July 26th, 1864). 

Darby O'Brien, Pvt. Co. F (killed July 5th, 1864, on picket). 

Abner A. Leland, Pvt. Co. G (killed June 22d, 1864). 

E. C. Rice, Pvt. Co. K (killed June 22d, 1864). 



John T. Palmer, 
Calvin L. Brigham, 
Myron D. Green, 
Daniel Hooley, 
Charles L. De Fose, 
Samuel Allinan, 
AH. Place, 
William Brown, 
Edward D. Geer, 
James G. Anderson, 



(ENLISTED MEN). 

B George A. Robinson, Pvt. Co. H 

Amos Sprague, " " 

E. D. McFarland, Sergt. Co. I 

John Gover, Pvt. " 

C Michael Dwyer, " " 

William McDaniels, " " 

Charles L Daniels, " Co. K 
Pvt. " Milo West, 

" Co. H (Died of wounds Aug. 4th, 

1864) 



WOUNDED 

Corp. Co. 
Pvt. 



Sergt. Co. 
Corp. 



Captain Prescott, iu the meantime, had been promoted to the 
rank of Major, to date from June loth, 1864, in place of J. M. 
Tucker, who had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and 
Sergeant Albert Doty had been promoted to 1st lieutenant and 
appointed regimental adjutant. 

The regiment now numbered less than one hundred men 
present for duty, with but five officers, Major Prescott, Lieuten- 
ants Barton, Doty, Reade and Anderson. 

While many found fault with General McClellan for inac- 
tivity, they now commenced to clamor that General Grant was 
too active. Especially did the Confederates think so, for they 
were allowed no repose. Blows fell upon them, first from one 
point and then another, all of which were skilfully parried. At 
the same time the steady and persistent pressure that was brought 
to bear upon them began to dampen the enthusiasm with which 
they had commenced the opening operations of the war. The 
day of their brilliant victories had passed, and from all points 



164 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



well commanded and well disciplined armies were gradually clos- 
ing around the heart and life of the Confederacy. Their supplies 
were now growing short and their armies growing weaker, while 
the Federal supplies seemed inexhaustible and the armies never 
in finer condition. The hope of foreign interference looked less 
promising. They could not reasonably look for success except 
through a political division of the North. 

General Grant was impatient of delay. Since the move- 
ment towards the Weldon railroad had not realized the success he 
had anticipated, he abandoned, for the time being, further 
movements by the left flank and commenced to make plans for a 
geueral and determined assault upon the enemy's works along the 
whole line ; but was deterred from this, awaiting the result of a 
coiqi de main, which was in preparation in front of the Ninth 
Corps. It is probably well that he was ; for, while the latter 
resulted in disaster to a single corps, the former would most 
undoubtedly have resulted in a worse disaster to the whole army. 
In looking across the narrow space that separated the two armies, 
upon the enemy's works, it could be plainly seen that they were 
too stroug to be carried by direct assault. If they had been con- 
sidered so at Cold Harbor, the conditions had in no wise been 
changed, except the works were much stronger and defended with 
a greater force of artillery. 

Men may he as brave as the bronze statues of illustrious 
w;irriors mighl lead one to suppose ; yet they are made of mortal 
flesh and blood, which, when riddled with bullets, renders their 
bravery of little practical value. If a direct assault was desired, 
a line opportunity was Subsequently presented, which was not 

turned to advantage. 

Everyone knew that some enterprise was being conceived; 
the ail- was full of it and men in the trenches discussed it. Even 
the forebodings of an approaching storm were wafted across to 
the enemy, -however, that was hardly strange, as it had come to 
he all Btorm to him. 

There were rumors of mines and countermines. Willi one in 
Course <>l construction within the lines of our own corps, it is 
remarkable thai everyone possessing Yankee inquisitiveness did 



PETERSBURG. 165 

not find out all about it. The enemy could not be expected to 
find it out as he was in such ill temper over the colored troops 
that were facing him in the Ninth Corps, that he never allowed 
hostilities m that direction to lag for a moment, and was not in- 
clined to accept any civilities from that part of the line. It was 
different along that portion occupied by the other corps, and occa- 
sional lulls would take place along the picket lines, when papers 
would be exchanged and coffee traded for tobacco, but we never 
witnessed anything of that kind in front of the Ninth Corps. We 
had no apologies to make for the presence of colored troops and 
no favors to ask. 

A demonstration was made on the 26th (July) with the 
Second Corps under General Hancock and the cavalry under 
General Sheridan, to the north bank of the James, crossing by 
ponton bridges at Deep Bottom. The cavalry was to operate 
against Richmond, and if successful, was to be supported by the 
Second Corps at Chapin's Bluff. In case this movement did not 
meet with success in an attack, it might be the means of causing 
the withdrawal of a considerable Confederate force in front of our 
troops investing Petersburg. All night of the 26th a long train 
of empty wagons was moved towards the right. The heavy 
ramble could be heard by the enemy who construed it into a 
contemplated attack in force upon their left flank. The ruse 
worked successfully. The infantry and cavalry crossing, as 
above stated, made a display of force, the cavalry having a light 
engagement, capturing a battery of four twenty-pounder Parrott 
guns and some prisoners ; but upon further advance, the enemy 
was found intrenched in strong force. The Confederate lines in 
front of Petersburg had been considerably reduced to meet this 
threatened attack. On the 29th a large portion of the Confeder- 
ate army had taken position on the north bank of the James in 
the vicinity of Chapin's Bluff. The Second Corps then rapidly 
countermarched and was ordered to take position in rear and to 
support the Ninth Corps in an assault upon Petersburg, which 
was to follow the explosion of a mine that had been prepared in 
their front. Everything, up to this poiut, had worked admirably 
and the commanding general had every reason to anticipate a 
brilliant victory. 



166 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Before passing to the next chapter, we will pause to note 
once more the tremendous loss which the Army of the Potomac 
had sustained since the beginning of the campaign. 

I quote from "The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865," 
by General Humphreys, Chief of Staff, A. P. : " From May 4th to 
June 19th, including the Eighteenth Corps at Cold Harbor and 
Petersburg, the total killed were 8,802; wounded, 40,518; miss- 
ing, 9,544; total killed, wounded and missing, 58,864. Deduct- 
ing the killed, wounded and missing of the Eighteenth Corps 
(2,700), we have for the Army of the Potomac, 50,164 killed, 
wounded and missing. To these must be added the casualties of 
Sheridan on the Trevylian expedition, and of Wilson on his raid ; 
that is, )->40 killed and wounded, and over 1,400 missing. The 
losses of the infantry corps before Petersburg, from the 20th to 
the 30th of June, were not less than one thousand killed and 
wounded and two thousand missing ; making a total of the Army 
of the Potomac to that date of 61,400, and of killed and wounded 
nearly 50,000." 

Such were the appalling facts that stared us in the face when 
the Ninth Corps of that grand old army w;is again called upon to 
make still heavier sacrifices and face new but foreseen dangers, 
in what all knew would prove a desperate and bloody affair. 





ALBERT PRESCOTT, 

Maj. 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER IX. 




PETERSBURG MINE. 

jE now approach one of the most tragic and saddest 
chapters in our whole history. We approach it as 
an ant might survey a mountain. It has been 
written in histoiy and told in story in so many 
different ways that to try and harmonize all the narra- 
tives that have been given of it, would be like standing 
upon the summit of ancient Babel, hoping to bring 
harmony out of the confusion of tongues. We beg, however, 
the reader's indulgence while describing it in our own way, as we 
saw it. We were there. We are not going to say that the Fifty- 
Seventh did any better than any other organization, only that the 
regiment performed its duty and did not come out with dishonor. 
It has been our aim to avoid comparison, which will govern in 
this case. The historical facts leading to this battle are briefly 
described. 

It has been previously stated that the opposing lines opposite 
the Ninth Corps were drawn nearer together than upon any other 
portion. In some places the interval separating them was less 
than two hundred yards. The position of the Ninth Corps, there- 
fore, appeared to present more advantages for a direct assault 
than any other. Opposite the centre of the Ninth Corps, occu- 
pied by General Potter's division, where the lines ran very 
close together, the enemy had constructed a redan battery in a 
commanding position, which had been very active and annoying. 
In rear of this battery was a crest or ridge of small hills, where 
Confederate infantry was intrenched and other batteries in posi- 
tion. Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania 



168 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



conceived the idea of running a mine from the Ninth Corps 
intrenchments, to terminate in a chamber under the fort, which was 
to be blown up with powder. This plan was submitted to General 
Potter, who carried it to General Burnside. The latter, after 
looking it over carefully, fully approved of it and laid it before 
General Meade for his consideration, who, after much hesitation, 
gave it his approval, but did not express great confidence in it 
and never gave it his hearty support. However, under the feeble 
sanction he did give, work was commenced, under direction of 
Colonel Pleasants, on the 2oth of June. No mining tools were 
furnished and the work had to be prosecuted with ordinary picks 
and shovels. A main gallery had to be dug a distance of about 
five hundred feet. The earth thus removed Avas carried out by 
the soldiers employed, in cracker boxes, and covered over with 
brush, to shield it from the observation of the enemy. The 
farther end of this gallery terminated in a chamber directly under 
the fort, from which two lateral galleries extended to the right 
and left, one thirty-seven and the other thirty-eight feet in length. 
The work was completed on the 27th of July, and eight thousand 
pounds of powder placed in the magazines under the fort. Four 
of these magazines were constructed in the lateral galleries, about 
equal distance from each other, and connected with small troughs 
filled with powder. Three lines of fuses were laid ami everything 
was in readiness on the evening of July 28th. The fort towards 
which these operations were directed, was a strong, bastioned 
work, known as Elliott's salient, and occupied by General Elliott's 
brigade of Confederate troops; the L8th and part of the 23d 
South Carolina regiments being in the main works. This mining 
had not escaped the notice of the ever vigilanl enemy. Genera] 
Beauregard being then in command of thai parf of the enemy's 
trenches, had at fust directed countermining, hut this was subse- 
quently abandoned, as he was probably in some doubl as to the 

threatened point. However, he const liicted interior trenches and 
redoubts in such a way that in case the Federals should make a 
lodgmenl within the lort, a direct and enfilading lire of infantry 

and artillery could he broughl to bear upon them, which proved 

to lie the case. .Mention is made of this for the reason that the 



PETERSBURG MINE. 169 

prevailing opinion was that after having gained the crater, 
there remained no opposing Confederate force near at hand, 
and that it took some time before they could bring any to bear 
upon the advancing column of attack. This was true only for 
the few moments which it took for the enemy to recover from 
his surprise. 

When everything was ready for the assault, the abatis and other 
obstructions in front of our own intrenchments were removed, allow- 
ing only a sufficient space for the passage of the charging column. 
At this time there arose an embarrassing question between the Ninth 
Corps commander, General Bnrnside, and the commander of the 
Army of the Potomac, General Meade, as to the execution of the 
plans for the coming assault. The most important arrangements 
that General Bnrnside had taken much time and pains to perfect 
were set aside, and others substituted in place, of which the latter 
did not approve. The change was made so late that sufficient time 
could not be given to provide for their proper execution.* It 
would appear from past as well as present events that there 
was a lack of cordial harmony existing between the commander 
of the Army of the Potomac and the commander of the Ninth 
Corps. There had been an apparent friction between them from 
the very beginning of the campaign, which became more manifest 
at the time of which we are writing. Such feelings often have a 
marked influence upon important military movements, at a critical 
moment when unity and harmony of action are essential and 
absolutely necessary to insure success. To what extent this 
influence was felt in the present case one can only judge by the 
result. Any unfriendly or indifferent feeling of a commander 
towards one of his lieutenants is sure to appear in some form, and 
make its influence felt all down through the different grades, until 
it reaches the private soldier, who almost invariably shares the 
feelings of those nearest in touch with him. It is not within our 
province to discuss this question in a work like this. Mention is 
only made of it as showing that men in the ranks were sometimes 
made the unfortunate victims of the petty spites and jealousies of 



*ln the report submitted bj General Meade he positively denied having inter- 
fered in any way with General Burnside's plans for tactical formations, except to 
disapprove of putting the colored division in front. — J. A. 



170 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOI.l"XTEEKs 



those in high command. Whether the plaus as finally substituted 
were better or worse than the original, one thing was certain, 
General Bnrnside was obliged to accept them. The\ T could not 
have been more poorly executed. To give a better understanding 
of the situation, we quote from the " History of the Ninth Army 
Corps," by Augustus Woodbury, the original plans of General 
Bnrnside, and also the modified ones by General Meade. As 
submitted by General Bnrnside: "My plan would be to explode 
the mine just before daylight in the morning, or about five o'clock 
in the afternoon, mass the two brigades of the colored division in 
rear of my first line, in columns of division, ' double columns 
closed in mass,' the head of each brigade resting on the front 
line, and as soon as the explosion has taken place, move them 
forward with instructions for the divisions to take half distance. 
As soon as the leading regiments of the two brigades pass 
through the gap in the enemy's line, the leading regiment of the 
right brigade should come into line perpendicular to the enemy's 
line, by the right companies on the right into line wheel, the left 
companies on the right into line, and proceed at once down the 
line of the enemy's works as rapidly as possible; and the leading 
regiment of the left brigade to execute the reverse movement to 
the left, moving up to the enemy's line. The remainder of the 
columns to move directly towards the crest as rapidly as possible, 
diverging in such a way as to enable them to deploy into columns 
of regiments, the right column making, as nearly as possible, for 
Cemetery Hill. These columns to be followed by the other 
divisions of this corps as soon as they can be thrown in. This 
would involve the necessity of relieving these divisions by other 
troops before the movement, and of holding columns of other 
troops in readiness to take our place on the crest in case we 
gained it and swepl down it. It would, in my opinion, be advis- 
able, if we succeed in gaining the crest, to throw the colored 
division right into the town. There is a necessity of co-operation, 
,-it leasl in the way of artillery, of the troops on our right and 
left. Of the extent of this you will necessarily be the judge." 

The tactical movements required by the foregoing plans 

would look very pretty upon an open field in a sham battle, but 



PETERSBURG MINE. 171 

their execution over broken ground, cut up by deep trenches and 
with an intricate network of other obstructions, carefully prepared 
for just such an occasion, would have been extremely difficult, 
even had all the officers in charge been present to conduct opera- 
tions in person; as many of them were not, the plans would 
undoubtedly have fallen through under the most favorable circum- 
stances ; such was the opinion of General Meade. 

As far as the plans contemplated putting the colored division 
in the lead, they seemed quite reasonable. This division had 
suffered less than any of the others. It had been drilled for this 
special occasion, the men were full of confidence and anxious to 
demonstrate the fact tbat the} 7 were equally as brave and capable 
for such an undertaking as their white comrades ; besides, they 
were commanded by as brave a body of officers as stood in the 
army. All were ambitious to wipe out the long standing prejudice 
which existed against the race. All the white divisions were 
greatly exhausted by constant marching and fighting from the 
beginning of the campaign, while the colored division was com- 
paratively fresh. 

As the time for assault approached, General Meade began to 
look upon it with more favor and to anticipate important results. 
After discussing the matter with General Grant and General 
Burnside, he issued the following order on the 29th : — 

1. As soon as dark, Major-General Burnside, commanding Ninth 
Corps, will withdraw his two brigades under General White,* occupy- 
ing the intrenchments between the plank and Norfolk roads, and bring 
them to his front. Care will be taken not to interfere with the troops 
of the Eighteenth Corps moving into their position in rear of the Ninth 
Corps. General Burnside will form his troops for assaulting the enemy's 
works at daylight of the 30th, prepare his parapets and abatis for the 
passage of the columns, and have the pioneers equipped for work in 
opening passages for artillery, destroying the enemy's abatis, etc., and 
the inti'enching tools distributed for effecting lodgments, etc. 

2. Major-General Warren, commanding Fifth Corps, will reduce 
the number of his troops holding the intrenchments of his front to the 
minimum, and concentrate all his available force on his right and hold 
them prepared to support the assault of Major-General Burnside The 
preparations in respect to pioneers, intrenching tools, etc., enjoined upon 
the Ninth Corps, will also be made by the Fifth Corps. 



*Ferrero's division, colored. — J. A. 



172 FIFTY-SEVENTH KKGJMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

3. As soon as it is dark Major-General Orel, commanding Eighteenth 
Corps, will relieve his troops in the trenches by General Mott's division 
of the Second Corps, and form his corps in rear of the Ninth Corps, and 
be prepared to support the assault of Major-General Burnside. 

4. Every preparation will be made for moving forward the field 
artillery of each corps. 

5. At dark Major-General Hancock, commanding the Second Corps, 
will move from Deep Bottom to the rear of the intrenchments now held 
by the Eighteenth Corps, resume the command of Mott's division and be 
prepared at daylight to follow up the assaulting and supporting column, 
or for such other operation as may be found necessary. 

6. Major-General Sheridan, commanding Cavalry Corps, will pro- 
ceed at dark from the vicinity of Deep Bottom to Lee's Mill, and at day- 
light will move with his whole corps, including Wilson's division, against 
the enemy's troops, defending Petersburg on their right, by the roads 
leading from the southward and westward. 

7. Major Duane, acting Chief Engineer, will have the ponton 
trains parked at convenient points in the rear, prepared to move. He 
will see that supplies of sand bags, gabions, fascines, etc., are in depot, 
near the lines, ready for use. He will detail engineer officers for each 
corps. 

8. At half past three in the morning of the 30th, Major-General 
Burnside will spring his mine, and his assaulting columns will immediately 
move rapidly upon the breach, seize the crest in rear, and effect a 
lodgment there. He will be followed by Major-General Orel, who will 
support him on the right, directing Ins movement to the crest indicated, 
and by Major-General Warren, who will support him on the left. Upon 
the explosion of the mine the artillery of all kinds in battery will open 
upon those points of the enemy's works whose fire covers the ground 
over which our columns must move, care being taken to avoid impeding 
the progress of our troops. Special instructions respecting the direction 
of the iir<' will be issued through the Chief of Artillery. 

9. Corps Commanders will report to the Commanding General 
when their preparations are complete, and will advise him of every 
step in the progress of the operation and of everything important that 
occurs. 

10. Promptitude, rapidity of execution and cordial co-operation 
are essential to success, and the Commanding General is confident that 
this indication of his expectations will insure the heart] efforts of the 
commanders and t roups. 

11. Headquarters during the operation will heat the headquarters 

of 1 he Ninl h ( lorps. 

By command of 

MAJOE GENERAL MEADE. 
Signed S. Williams, 

Assistant Adjutant-Gen< ral. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 



173 



This is silent upon the order for the tactical formation of the 
Ninth Corps, the details of which were left to General Burnside, 
with the restrictions that we have noted, viz. : That the colored 
division be excluded from leading the assault, and the tactical 
movements to the right and left not to be undertaken. General 
Meade being emphatic upon one point, namely: To "lose no 
time after passing through the crater in seizing the crest beyond, 
known as Cemetery Hill." To the eye of a military expert this 
was the real key to the situation. Experience of coming events 
demonstrated the sound judgment of General Meade in repeating 
the order : " Lose no time in making formations, but rush for the 
crest." The apprehension that by so doing would expose the 
assaulting column to attack from flank and rear were provided for 
by instructions that the divisions to follow, would bear to the right 
and left. The detailed instructions given by General Meade to 
General Burnside were verbal, and approved by General Grant. 
We were of the opinion then, and we are of the same opinion now, 
that had the plans of General Burnside or those of General Meade 
been faithfully executed with promptness, either would have 
resulted in success. The plans of the latter were simpler, more 
easy of execution and less liable of complication, while those of 
the former depended upon everything working in mechanical 
order, like the works of a clock ; any failure of a part would 
have thrown the whole machinery out of gear, and would have 
consumed more time in their execution. In either case time was 
the most essential feature, the very " essence of success." 

In his testimony before the committee on the conduct of the 
war, General Meade said: "The only objection I intended to 
make to his plan was to the use of the colored troops in advance." 
It is believed in this that he meant the general plan and not the 
minor details to which reference has been made. Another objec- 
tion made by General Meade, as he says, to putting the colored 
troops in advance was, " if it should prove a failure it would then 
be said, and very properly, that we were shoving those people 
ahead to get killed because we did not care anything about them, 
but that cannot be said if we put white troops in front." There 
is no doubt but that at that time, even in the light of preceding 



174 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 

events, there was a lingering doubt in the minds of both General 
Grant and General Meade as to the reliability of colored troops 
in an affair involving such important issues. 

After a protracted consultation with General Meade, General 
Burnside finally, July 29th, sent for his three commanders of the 
white divisions and gave them detailed instructions, verbally, for 
the coming movements ; he then allowed them to draw lots to 
determine which division should lead in making the assault. The 
lot fell to our own, the First Division. It has been said, and 
truthfully, too, that this was unfortunate, the reflection not bear- 
ing upon the character of the men composing the division, but 
the peculiar eccentricities, heretofore described, of its commander. 
It certainly seems that by this time these should have been known 
by one higher in authority, and with this knowledge his own 
sound judgment should have dictated a different course than that 
of consigning the most important part, of this most important 
affair, to the hands of the least competent of all the division com- 
manders in the whole army. 

Based upon his understanding of General Meade's verbal 
instructions, General Burnside, on the 29th, issued the following 
order governing the movements of the Ninth Corps : — 

1. Tin- mine will be exploded tomorrow morning at half past three, 
by Colonel Pleasants 

2. General Ledlie will, immediately upon the explosion of the mine, 
move his division forward, as directed by verbal orders, and if possible, 
crown the crest at the point known as Cemetery Hill, occupying, if 
possible, the cemetery. 

.".. General Wilcox will move his division forward as soon as 
possible after General Ledlie has passed through the first line of the 
enemy's works, bearing oil' to the left, so a- to effectually protect 
the hit Sank of General Ledlie's column, and make a lodgment, 
if possible, .mi the Jerusalem plank road to the left of General Ledlie's 
division. 

I. General Potter will move his division forward to the righl 
of General Ledlie's division, and will, as near as possible, protect the 
r'iL r hi ihmk of General Ledlie from any attack on thai quarter, and 

establish a line on the cresl of :t ravine, which seems to run from the 

cresl of Cemetery Hill nearlj at righl angles to the enemy's main line 

directly in our front . 



PETERSBURG MINE. 175 

5. General Ferrero will move his division immediately after General 
Wilcox's until he reaches our present advanced line, where he will remain 
until the ground in his front is entirely cleared by the other three divi- 
sions, when he will move forward over the same ground that General 
Ledlie moved over, will pass through our line, and if possible move 
down and occupy the village to the right. 

This order appears plain enough, yet the frequent repetition 
of the words " if possible " had a tendency to weaken it. Such 
important orders should admit of no " ifs," but be 2iositive all the 
way through. It would have had greater force if he had added, 
that division and brigade commanders should accompany their 
commands in person, and be held strictly responsible for the prompt 
and faithful execution of the order. A timid commander is always 
sure to take advantage of any implied doubt as to the possibility 
of executing it, where great danger is involved. 

Late in the evening of the 29th the orders were received at 
the front by regimental and company commanders of the First 
Division, directing them to get ready to move, at a moment's 
notice, and that this division was to be the leading one in making 
the assault upon the enemy's works in our front. The order was 
given under cover of secrecy, that it should be withheld from the 
enlisted men ; however, this was impossible, as they had received 
an inkling of it before, and the order to get ready to move revealed 
to them just about as much as the officers knew, as no detailed 
plan of operations had been given to company commanders. 
Never shall we forget that night of waiting. All the officers of 
the regiment who were present with it, assembled at headquarters 
to discuss the matter. The dark shades of night surrounding 
us seemed but the forebodings of a darker shadow with the 
approaching light of coming day. In this group of officers were 
Major Prescott, Lieutenants Barton, Doty, Reade and Anderson. 
While looking into the trenches only about ninety men were 
present to answer another call to duty out of what, but three 
months before, was a splendid regiment. As the night wore on 
we were joined by Captain Dresser who had been absent from the 
regiment as Acting Ordnance Officer. Learning that we were 
again going into action, he had asked to be relieved from a posi- 



17G 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS VOLUNTEERS. 



tion that offered him security from danger, in order to join his 
company in the coming battle. In the promotion of Captain 
Prescott to major, he had been passed over in rank, yet that mat- 
tered not to him. He was willing and anxious to perform his 
duty, even under one who had formerly been his junior in rank. 
The hours wore on with little or no sleep. Lieutenant Barton 
was the Mark Tapley of the party, with an unlimited supply of 
funny stories suitable for all occasions, while with frequent, deep- 
drawn sighs, Major Prescott would ask : " I wonder where we 
will all be at this time tomorrow night? " and then add, " If it were 
not for thinking of my family, who are dependent upon me, I 
could be as light hearted as the rest of you." 

We were all glad when the order finally came. The regiment 
quietly drew out of the trenches and marched off to the place 
appointed for making the assault, where the men were ordered to 
lie down and remain silent. The division formed in column with 
the Second Brigade in front, closely followed by the First, to 
which the Fifty-Seventh belonged. The doomed fort could be 
dimly seen through the darkness, about one hundred yards in 
front. Its garrison rested in fancied security from the hated 
"Yanks," little dreaming that just beneath them was a mine of 
eight thousand pounds of powder to which the lighted match was 
soon to be applied. We waited long and anxiously, watching for 
the curtain to rise which was to disclose one of the grandest 
tragedies of the war, — waited with beating hearts and bated 
breath, and yet no sign of the expected eruption. The moments 
seemed long and the waiting tedious, eyes weary with watching 
gradually closed in sleep, while the gray light of early dawn came 
silently creeping up from the eastern horizon. Suddenly there 
came a heavy ramble that made the ground tremble, followed by 
a deep boom; quickly jumping to our feet we saw a black moun- 
tain of earth and smoke rising, carrying cannon, caissons, camp 
equipage and human bodies in one confused mass, about two 

hundred feel in the air, where it poised for a second, and as it 

settled back, looked as if it would bury the troops which were 

formed for the charge. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 



177 



The spectacle was one of appalling grandeur. As the echoes 
died away upon the morning air, all the heavy guns along the 
line, mortars and field pieces, opened a terrific fire upon the 
enemy's batteries in order to silence them. The heavy roar of 
artillery shook the ground for miles around. For some minutes 
the leading division stood in motionless silence, awaiting orders 
from its chief to advance. He was not present to give directions, 
but in a secure place in rear. Finally General Bartlett stepped 
to the front and commanded, " First Brigade, forward," and a 
few minutes before five, the brigade moved forward with General 
Bartlett leading. As we approached the Second Brigade that was 
also put in march by its commander, Colonel Marshall, the two 
went rapidly forward into the crater formed by the explosion of 
the mine, becoming intermingled so that from that time it became 
impossible to separate them. The First Division had been 
ordered to push directly through the crater to the crest about five 
hundred yards beyond. Upon reaching the scene of the explosion 
the picture presented was one of death and confused destruction, 
which for the moment, seemed to paralyze our own men. There 
were mangled, human bodies scattered among the ruins; men 
partly buried, some with heads sticking out, still alive, and plead- 
ing to be extricated from their painful positions, arms and legs 
were seen protruding and wriggling in silent appeal for the release 
of the buried bodies to which they belonged. About two hundred 
and fifty men of Pegram's battery were scattered through the 
wreck. The place where this frowning fort once stood was now 
converted into a huge crater about one hundred and sixty feet 
long, sixty wide and about twenty-five deep, and looked like the 
mouth of a volcano, with the cloud of smoke and dust hanging- 
over it. 

For the time being the instincts of humanity were the first 
consideration, and another delay was made while the unfortunate 
victims were being rescued from living graves. During the ad- 
vance only scattering infantry fire was directed upon the attack- 
ing force, which did little, if any, execution. The sudden shock 
of this explosion had the effect of striking the enemy Avith fear 
and astonishment. They knew not what other explosions were to 

12 



178 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

follow this. As our troops poured into the'crater, they could be 
seen running from their front line of intrenchments rapidly to the 
rear. For several hundred yards to our right we could see their 
strong works almost deserted. We were not in a position to 
observe the condition of affairs to the left, but this was, most 
assuredly, the supreme moment for prompt and resolute action. 
If, for at least an hour after we reached the crater, a front attack 
had been made upon the main line of Confederate intrenchments, 
it would have met with very little opposition. 

The First Division was wasting precious time when it should 
have been moving forward ; not only this, but it blocked the 
movements of the other divisions, which were following with 
great difficulty. The obstructions in front of our line of intrench- 
ments had not been removed, except a narrow space just sufficient 
to allow the attacking force to file through, and none in front of 
the enemy's works, except those destroyed by the explosion of 
the mine. Each brigade, as it approached, crowded with the First 
Division into the already over-crowded crater. After considera- 
ble delay, the First Division was pushed to the farthermost side 
towards the crest, which it had been ordered to seize ; but by this 
time the enemy had recovered from his surprise, and was gathering 
his forces to resist an advance from the crater in any direction. 
Their men were returning to the trenches, ami heavy guns, with 
mortars, were being brought to bear upon the crowded Federal 
troops in the crater. The musketry fire, which at first was 
scattering, was constantly increasing, witli deadly effect. The 
crest in our front was now occupied by a strong force, while the 
batteries stationed there were delivering a raking lire. Leaving 
barely enough men to hold their intrenchments, all others, with 
all the artillery they could use, were concentrated upon the small 
space into which the Ninth Corps had become huddled. It was a 

veritable ,L leaden rain and iron hail." Our own troops were so 
crowded thai only those who stood in front could use their arms 
to advantage. Brigade commanders were vainly struggling to 
gel their commands oul of the crater, where they could exercise 
some control over them, bul all semblance of organization had 
become lost and men bad to be taken out in groups by their 



PETERSBURG MINE. 179 

officers, who endeavored to effect a formation outside. In a few 
instances this was done under a heavy fire, and the brigades, 
composed of fractions of different regiments, went forward only 
to encounter the advancing troops of the enemy and were driven 
back in disorder. 

By this time every attempt made by the First Division to 
advance was met by a withering fire which caused the men to 
again seek shelter. The fact was that neither officers or men 
knew what was expected of them. The prime cause of all rested 
with the commanding general of the First Division, who, instead 
of going forward with his command, was in a bomb-proof fifty 
yards in rear of the point from which the charge was made, and 
had not intrusted either of his brigade commanders with the 
control of the division, or given them proper instructions. The 
division was simply there, a mass of brave men without orders 
and without a head. It had been wound up like an automatic 
machine, set in motion, launched through the deadly breach and 
left to run down without any hand to guide it. If the order 
which General Meade had reiterated with so much emphasis, viz : 
"To rush at once for the crest," been strictly carried out, it 
would have cleared the way for the troops that followed and 
prevented all confusion. 

Nothing could be accomplished until the First Division had 
performed its part ; without that, all movements that were made 
to the right or left exposed their flanks to attack. Every officer 
from colonel down to second lieutenant was giving orders of some 
kind, most of them being contradictory. Some frantically com- 
manded "forward," others "halt and intrench," while others 
were desperately screaming "give way to the right" (or left). 
It was a typical Bedlam. Our gallant brigade commander, 
General Bartlett, had his artificial leg crushed early in the engage- 
ment and was now lying back in the crater as helpless as the 
buried Confederates around him. It was entirely useless to 
attempt to push this disorganized force against the enemy's 
lines and batteries. The greater the number the greater the 
disadvantage. 



180 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



The Third Division (General Wilcox's) followed the First ; 
the leading brigade became engulfed in the crater, but the second 
moved to the left and gained possession of some portion of the 
enemy's intrenchments. The Second Division (General Potter's) 
moved forward by the flank, and when in the vicinity of the mine 
General Griffin's brigade formed line and bore off to the right, 
supported by the brigade of Colonel Bliss, capturing about two 
hundred yards of rifle pits and advancing be} 7 ond in the direction 
of the crest. The advantage gained was only temporal}'. It 
was difficult to make headway against the intricate works. Ob- 
stacles of all kinds were encountered — pointed stakes, traverses, 
covered wa} T s and ditches, which were bravely defended at every 
step. The time had passed when anything could be gained 
except by the most desperate fighting. About two hours after 
the first assault was made, the Fourth Division (colored) was 
sent in with orders to "rush for the crest." Its commander, 
instead of having it ready to move, had it crowded in the cohered 
way leading to the advanced line, and it was about eight o'clock 
before it could file out. It went forward with great impetuosity, 
but a large part of it crowded into the crater, where it only 
added to the confusion. Their officers worked heroically to lead 
them off to the right and partially succeeded. The First Brigade, 
under Colonel Sigfried, made a most gallant attack. The 43d 
U.S. Colored Troops attacked the intrenchments, capturing about 
two hundred prisoners, a stand of colors and recapturing a stand 
of National colors that had been lost by a white regiment. The 
Second Brigade (colored), under Colonel Thomas, was considera- 
bly broken in getting through, and only fragments of it were led 
to the attack, which, after suffering a heavy loss, were driven 
back and eventually took refuge in the crater, which seemed like 
a mighty whirlpool, whose suction drew in and engulfed all who 
came near it. although there was no music of sirens to entice 
them there t<> meet their doom, or council of Circe to guide them 
beyond. 

We have now all of the Ninth Corps in and around the cra- 
ter, then the Eighteenth was ordered in. After desperate work two 
brigades BUCCeeded in gaining the intrenchments to the right, but 



PETERSBURG MINE. 181 

were unable to hold them and were finally driven out and back to 
our own lines. 

After considerable time had been wasted by the First 
Division, orders fiualty came for them to push forward to the 
crest, but by that time the enemy was there in force, with troops 
forming to the right, left aud front for the attack. Every attempt 
to move forward to the crest was repulsed and the troops driven 
back again to the crater. Major Prescott made an attempt to 
collect the regiment and move forward in obedience to orders, 
but was killed while leading. Captain Dresser took his place, but 
was killed almost immediately after. Captain Howe, being a 
staff officer of the brigade, made a gallant attempt to lead it in a 
charge on the crest. Mounting the extreme outer ridge of the 
crater in face of the enemy, who was now advancing in force, he 
waved his sword for the brigade to follow, but fell back almost 
instantly, shot through the heart. This charge by the enemy was 
repulsed by the First Division, which now ceased further attempts 
to advance and instead of being the assailants became the 
defendants. Charge succeeded charge until the enemy effected a 
lodgment within a few feet of our men who still held the ruined 
fort, so near we could almost reach each other with the bayonet. 
We had no semblance of an organization. Whites and blacks 
were squeezed so tightly together that there was hardly standing 
room. Even many of those killed were held in a standing position 
until jostled to the ground. The dead were being trodden upon 
and the wounded trampled to death. No pen can accurately 
portray the awful horrors of that scene of carnage. The mind 
gets bewildered in making the attempt. 

" Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of tliem, 
Cannon behind them, 
Volley'd and thunder'd." 

It was one seething cauldron of struggling, dying men. 
Shells were falling and exploding in our midst, making frightful 
havoc, while the driving storm of musketry at close range was 
simply murderous. Some struggled desperately to find a place of 



182 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



security, others vainly endeavored to free themselves so they 
could use their muskets in making some show of resistance. 

About the time Howe fell, Lieutenants Barton and Anderson 
were wounded. We still clung to the hope that the tide of battle 
would turn in our favor. We could not believe that we had been 
entirely abandoned in this dark pit, in this mouth of an infernal 
Golgotha, to continue such a hopeless struggle alone. We could 
not give up the hope but that this terrible pressure would soon be 
relieved by that large force we saw massed for our support as we 
moved forward early in the morning. Could it be possible that 
fifty thousand brave men were to remain idle witnesses to this 
brutal slaughter? It seemed hard to believe what but a short 
time before had given such bright promise of success was fast 
sinking behind such a black cloud of horrible disaster. 

For at least an hour after the division entered the crater, 
it was believed by those who were in a position where they could 
see, that one gallant and determined assault from our main lines 
of intrenchments upon those of the enemy would have carried 
everything ; as their force was still weakened by the absence of 
the troops that had been sent north of the James. The attention 
of all that remained was directed upon the Ninth Corps in the 
crater. If a direct assault had ever been contemplated, this 
presented a better opportunity than had ever existed before or 
ever would again. 

How often we turned and looked anxiously towards our lines 
only to be disappointed. Towards noon the Confederate troops 
that had been sent to the north bank of the James to meet the 
threatened attack heretofore referred to, were beginning to ap- 
proach ami forming to deliver the final, terrible blow that shut 
nut the lasl ray of hope. We were left in the shambles for the 
slaughter thai was steadily increasing. About this time General 
Meade directed a suspension of hostilities and the withdrawal of 
the troops to our own lines « whenever" the order said, ,l it could 
be done w ith security." 

It was easy to suspend hostilities, hut it was not easy to 
withdraw the troops from the crater to our own lines, as the 

enemy had placed guns and infantry in position, which continued 



PETERSBURG MIXE. 183 

a raking, enfilading fire across the intervening space over which 
the retiring force would have to pass. It seemed almost sure 
death to undertake it. 

As the fire of the Federal batteries slackened under the order 
to suspend hostilities, that of the Confederates continued with 
increased fury. The crater, and the space separating it from 
our lines, became the focus upon which all the fire, that could be 
brought to bear, was concentrated. 

Soon after noon General Burnside sent an order to withdraw 
to our own lines. We saw General Bartlett sitting upon some old 
logs that had formerly been used in the construction of the fort, 
who said further resistance was useless, that it meant simply 
murder, and gave instructions that such as wished to take the 
risk of getting back could do so, as he should be forced to sur- 
render. Not fancying the idea of accepting the hospitalities of a 
Confederate prison with a shattered arm, we took the risk and 
succeeded in getting out. It is unnecessary to say that we moved 
with the greatest alacrity and were not long in crossing this 
interval. The ground was being ploughed up with shot and shell 
while a perfect tornado of musket balls swept across with deadly 
effect. It was passing under a cloud of smoke and " pillar of 
fire," the ground was strewn with the dead and dying over which 
we had to leap. Others were attempting to make their way out, 
and men were falling at every step. 

Soon after we left the surrender was made and the curtain 
fell upon a tragedy of blunders, summed up thus : The conception 
was excellent in every respect, but when it came to the execution, 
that was intrusted to the commander of the Army of the Potomac, 
who intrusted it to the commander of the Ninth Corps, he, in turn, 
to division commanders, and the latter passed it on to brigade 
commanders without adequate instructions, the authority weakening 
as it descended. The farther one went to the rear the more rank 
was to be found and more gaudy uniforms ; moving back as far as 
Washington, officers could be found arrayed like " Solomon in all 
his glory." There were the brave ones who were always ready to 
tell just how things should be done. There must have been some 
fearful old struggles in the city of Washington during the war 



1H4 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

that overshadowed all that the Army of the Potomac could have 
done. The privations and sufferings f those who had only hotel 
food to eat, champagne to drink and soft beds to sleep on, must 
have been terrible. We heard of one valiant brigadier-general 
who before leaving his beloved State, formulated plans for 
" crushing the rebellion." He led an impetuous charge on 
Willard's Hotel, carried it by storm and planted his colors on the 
battlements, where he kept them proudly and defiantly floating 
until the last shot of the war had been fired. This was indeed a 
post of great danger, for the projectiles that float around licensed 
hotels cause " many brave boys to fall." No congressional vote 
of thanks or other reward, save a poor brevet, did this brave 
officer receive, while others skulked off to the front just to be shot. 
It is the general impression among those not familiar with battle 
formations that the generals always lead and do the bulk of fight- 
ing, the same as the ancient Greeks and Trojans. If the forma- 
tions of modern times could be reversed there would be fewer 
battles and fewer casualties. 

The general directions to govern the crater engagement were 
sent by staff officers from the general commanding, whose head- 
quarters were in a shady grove about a mile in rear, where he 
could see nothing personally of what was going on, but depended 
for information upon reports that were brought to him. 

General Grant subsequently stated that he went to the front 
as early as six o'clock and then observed that the opportunity of 
-.lining a success had passed. At thai time and for more than 
an hour after, there is little doubt but the troops could have been 
withdrawn with small loss had the attempt been made. Before 
the final surrender the enemy had approached ami delivered his 
fire at such close range upon the mass of crowded men as to 
burn with powder smoke those who stood in front. The left 

wing of the regiment, with the color guard and colors, sur- 
rendered. 

The night not only broughl darkness, but such sorrow and 
gloom as had never been felt before. We had seen the regiment 
very nearly annihilated and had lost friends we dearly loved. In 
the loss of the colors OUT pride had been humiliated, yet we felt a 



PETERSBURG MINE. 185 

consciousness that the brave men who were with the Fifty-Seventh 
that day had clone all, under the circumstances, that brave men 
could do. Looking back at it over the pages of history, we are 
unable to see anything on the part of the regiment that we are 
not proud to place on record ; not one skulked or ran away, but 
all stood up manfully and faced death in obedience to orders and 
in the discharge of duty. They would have charged the crest in 
the first instance had any officer in authority been there to lead 
them or give the necessary orders. The responsibility of failure 
did not rest with those who participated in the engagement, either 
white or black, but those who were charged with the management. 
Men who freely give their lives can do no more. 

The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts lost in this engagement 
three officers killed, two wounded and one missing. The killed 
were Maj. Albert Prescott, Capts. George H. Howe and E. T. 
Dresser. Lieuts. George E. Barton and John Anderson wounded 
and Lieut. John Keade missing. Forty-five (45) enlisted men 
killed, wounded and missing, viz. : — 



Dwight D. Allen, 1st Sergt. Co. H. 
Henry Day, Pvt. Co. C. 

WOUNDED. 

George W. Foster, Pvt., Co. A. 

Thomas Mara, " " 

Adam Petty, " " 

William J. Roper, l ' " 

Charles F. Paddock, " Co. B. 

Charles T. Randall, " 

Daniel O'Keefe, " Co. D. 

Benjamin O'Brien, " lt 

James G. Powers " Co. C (died of wounds Aug. 2d, lS6i). 

Rufus G. Farnsworth, Sergt. Co. F. 

George F. Sabine, Pvt. Co. F. 

Dennis Donavan, " Co. G. 

Charles Wright, " Co. I. 

Michael Cadigan, " Co. K (died of wounds Aug. Cth. 1864). 

Albert W. Howe, " " (died of wounds July 30th, 1864). 

Charles A. Lewis, " " 



186 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



MISSING. 

George H. Parks, Sergt. Co. A (died at Annapolis, Md., Sept. 19th, 

1864). 
Lavell F. Hull, Pvt. Co. A (died at Danville, Va., Nov. 20th, 1864, 

prisoner of war) . 
H. A. Wilson, Sergt. Co. A (taken prisoner). 
Hosea Warren, Pvt. Co. A (died at Danville, Va., Oct. 1st, 1864, 

rebel prison) . 
Martin Kiel}', Pvt. Co. B (died at Danville, Va., Jan. 6th, 1865, 

rebel prison). 
Jerry Sullivan, Pvt. Co. B (prisoner of war). 
Edward Terrell, " " " 

Hynes Wilson, " Co. C (died at Danville, Va., Dec. 17th, 1864, 

prisoner of war). 
Michael Powers, Pvt Co. C (died at Danville, Va., Nov. 21st, 

1864). 
James U. Cobleigh, Pvt. Co. D (died of wounds July 30th, 1864) 
Batt Finn, Pvt. Co. E. 

Thomas Hughes, " " 
Thomas N. Welch, " " 
Edwin Collins, " " 
Michael Miles, " Co. F. 
Frank Lalley, " Co. G. 

David B. Curtis, " " 
Augustus Champney, Pvt. Co. G (died from Avounds at Richmond, 

Va., Aug. 6th, 1864). 
William C. Park, Sergt. Co. H (died Jan. 31st, 1865, at Danville, 

Va.) 
William Connelly, Sergt. Co. H. 
Daniel A Leonard, Pvt. Co. H (died Sept. 9th, 1864, at Danville, 

Va.) 
Andrew Murry, Pvt. Co. II. 
John Ryan, Pvt. Co. II. 
William F Howard, Pvt. Co. I (died Feb. 23d, 1866, at Danville, 

Va.) 
F. ML Harrington, Pvt. Co. K. 
Stephen EL Phelps, Pvt. Co. K (died at Andersonville, Ga., Aug. 

26th, L864 . 
Benjamin A. Shear, Pvt. ( '<>. K. 

Of the twenty-seven that were officially reported as missing-. 
many were killed who could not be scon in the confnsion of 
battle, therefore their names were placed on the list of missing. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 187 

until later it was ascertained that they were either killed or died 
of wounds 

The total loss reported by General Meade was 4,400 killed, 
wounded and missing. A tabular statement submitted by the 
medical department places it at 419 killed, 1,679 wounded and 
1,910 missing. All but about one hundred belonged to the Ninth 
Corps. The Confederate loss was not much over one thousand. 
The proportion of officers killed and wounded was unusually 
large. The Fifty-Seventh lost six out of seven officers, and 
forty-five out of ninety-one enlisted men, leaving only forty-six 
enlisted men in the regiment, commanded by Lieut. Albert Doty. 
The description here given aud the opinions expressed are based 
upon personal knowledge. The affair was too indelibly impressed 
upon the minds of all who were there ever to be forgotten. As 
we always like to look upon both sides of such important matters, 
we beg to quote a very vivid description given by Gen. Fitzhugh 
Lee, nephew of Gen R. E. Lee, in a book which he has recently 
written. This gives the Confederate view of it : — 

"Lee heard what had been done at six a.m. and promptly 
took steps to retake the position and sent a staff officer for troops 
to do it, and took a commanding position about five hundred 
yards in rear of the crater. Beauregard was already there and 
soon Mahone, with two brigades, Weiseger's and Wright's, 
arrived and formed in a ravine in rear of the crater. The 
Virginia brigade had formed for the attack and the Georgia 
troops were in the act of forming, when suddenly Lieut. -Col. 
John A. Bross, of the 31st U.S. Colored Troops, sprang upon the 
crest of the crater, waving a flag and calling for his men to 
follow him. General Weiseger, commanding the Virginia brigade, 
saw him, and thinking his position would be assailed determined 
to move first and appealed, he says, to Captain Girardy, of 
Mahone's staff, to give the order, for he had been directed by 
Mahone to wait until he or Girardy ordered him forward. The 
order was given and the lines were captured by a most gallant 
charge. The crater remained crammed with human beings, living 
and dead, into which huge missiles from mortars were bursting. 
The Georgia brigade advanced aud attempted to dislodge the 



188 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Union troops in the lines south of the crater, but failed. Later 
the Alabama brigade came up, when a general assault by these 
and other troops on the lines upon either side of the crater was 
made, and everywhere successfully. Just then a white handker- 
chief ou the end of a ramrod was projected above the crater in 
token of the surrender of the men there. Altogether it was a 
horrible affair; and what promised, Grant said, to be the most 
successful assault of the campaign, terminated in disaster, a dis- 
aster in which the Federals lost four thousand men .... Fifty 
thousand troops were ready to support it but proper debouches 
had not been prepared." 

Gen. R. E. Lee, in writing of it, said: ''I sent General 
Mahone with two brigades of Hill's Corps, who charged into them 
handsomely, recapturing the intrenchments and guns, twelve 
stands of colors, seventy-three officers, including General Bartlett, 
his staff, three colonels and eight hundred and fifty enlisted men.* 
There were upward of five hundred of his dead unburied in the 
trenches, among them many officers and blacks." 

General Bartlett writes in a private letter of his experience : 
•• We rushed across the open field. I got up to the enemy's 
works about as soon as anyone, got into the crater, took the first 
and second lines of the enemy, held them until after one. when 
we were driven back by repeated charges. I fought them for an 
hour after they held the whole line, excepting the crater where we 
were, their Hag within seven feet of ours across the works. They 
threw bayonets and bottles on us, and we returned, for we got 
out of ammunition. At last to save further slaughter, there being 
no hope of our being rescued, we gave it up. The crater during 
thai day I Bhall never forget. A shell knocked down a boulder of 
clay on my wood leg and crushed it to pieces, killing the man next 
me. I surrendered to General Mahone." 

It was a day of intense heat. The unburied dead lay be- 
tween the lines exposed to the hoi rays of the sun until the second 
day after the battle, when they were buried upon the Held under a 
flag of ii uce. 

The body of Captain Howe was the only one recovered. 
That was brought out before the surrender and taken to the City 

•Should in- nineteen hundred and ten. J, a. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 



189 



Point hospital where it was embalmed and forwarded to his rela- 
tives in Monson, Mass., for burial. The burial service was con- 
ducted by the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member. 
The funeral was to have been held in the Methodist Church to 
which he belonged, but the assembled multitude was so great that 
not one-tenth of them could gain admission, hence the ceremony 
was held in the open air. It was a beautiful Sunday in August. 
The people for miles around the country came flocking in to pay 
their last tribute of respect to his memory, as his remains were 
placed at rest surrounded by the peaceful hills of his native town. 
Captain Howe was born in Monson. We knew him well and 
intimately from early life. We had been boys together and grew 
up together and were always staunch friends. We clung to him 
as to an older brother and knew his worth as no one else. No man 
ever put on the uniform of a soldier with a loftier sense of duty 
than he. His whole heart and soul were in the cause of his 
country. He was educated in the academy at Wilbraham, Mass., 
and when the war broke out was a young man holding a lucrative 
position as teacher in one of the educational institutions in Can- 
ada. Although in a foreign country he was enthusiastic and loyal 
to his native land. Resigning his position there he came home to 
Monson and enlisted, at the age of twenty-three, in Company G 
of the 46th Massachusetts, and was elected 1st Lieutenant. 
After having been mustered out by reason of expiration of his 
term of service he again offered his services and was appointed 
2d Lieutenant in the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, Nov. 2d, 
1863, and went to Palmer, where he helped to fill the quota 
of that town and several others, helping to raise a Company, 
E, which was mustered in as the fourth company to com- 
plete its complement, Jan. 25th, 1864, and was appointed its 
captain. Soon after taking the field in Virginia he was appointed 
assistant inspector-general on the staff of the brigade comman- 
der, which position he held at the time he was killed. He was 
regarded as very capable and efficient. He believed that duty 
came before everything else, and while he was always rigid in the 
strict compliance of orders, he was just as rigid in exacting it of 
others who were under him. He sealed his devotion to the cause 



190 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

of his country with his life. No higher testimony of his worth 
can be offered. It tills the measure of all eloquence in eulogy to 
say of him that he died for his country and flag upon the field of 
battle with his face to the foe. 

Captain Edsou T. Dresser, who was also killed in this 
engagement, was a native of Stockbridge, Mass. He left college 
early in the war to answer the call of his country for the services 
of her patriotic sons. At the age of twenty-three he enlisted in 
Company F, of the 49th Massachusetts, was elected 1st Lieutenant 
and participated with that regiment, under command of our own 
Colonel, the gallant Bartlett, in the campaign and several engage- 
ments around Port Hudson. He was mustered out with the regi- 
ment at the expiration of his time. He again offered his services 
and was appointed captain of Company D, Fifty-Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, to date from Jan. 25th, 1864. Chaplain Dashiell, 
who was personally acquainted with him, pays this just tribute to 
his memory: "No officer in the regiment was more respected 
and beloved than Capt. Edson T. Dresser of Stockbridge. 
Leaving college to enlist in the service of his country, he exhibited 
every quality which promised to raise him to command had his 
life been spared. But all too soon he yielded it as a precious 
gift to his country." 

The green hills of old Berkshire sent many noble and gallant 
men into the army in defense of the Union. Such names as 
Edson T. Dresser will keep the memory of their loyalty green 
upon the pages of history. As the Plains of Abraham are 
rendered immortal by such names as Wolfe and Montgomery, so 
will such names as Dresser stand, in endearing memory, among 
the everlasting hills of loyal Berkshire. 

Another name that stands with the honored dead of the 
Fifty-Seventh is that of Maj. Albert Prescott. He joined the 
regiment March 2d, 1864, as captain of Company 1. having seen 
honorable service prioi t<> that time. His military record was as 
follows: ls1 Sergeanl Company K, 5th Massachusetts Y.M. 
(three months) , April 19th to July 81st, L861. lie again entered 
the service as 1st Sergeant of Company B, 86th .Massachusetts, 
July 80th, 1862, and was promoted to captain of the same 





EDSON T. DRESSER, 

Capt 57th Mass. 



GEO. H. HOWE, 

Capt. 57th Mass. 





LEVI LAWRENCE, 

Capt. 57th Mass. 



JOSEPH W. GIRD, 

Capt 5 7th Mass. 



PETERSBURG MINE 191 

company Aug. 28th, 1862, resigning April 20th, 1863, and 
remaining out of service until appointed captain in the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts. He was a man of genial disposition, 
generous hearted and a true friend. We had not known him in 
private life, but his character as a soldier was upright and 
honorable. He fell with his sword drawn in defense of his 
country and died under the folds of the tattered flag which he 
had bravely followed, and thus closed the pages of his earthly 
life. 

Of the enlisted men who were captured, very few survived the 
sufferings and privations of prison life. A very touching inci- 
dent is related of two who were taken prisoners at the crater 
and confined in the Confederate prison at Danville, Va. Sergt. 
George H. Parks of Company A was sick when he went into the 
engagement. After having been captured, and thus deprived of 
proper medical attendance, his condition became worse. A Con- 
federate prison was not conducive to the good health of even the 
strongest constitution, but to a man going there sick, the chances 
of ever getting out alive were very poor He lingered day after 
day, clinging to the fond hope that possibly he might be exchanged 
and his life saved. Anxiously and patiently he waited and 
eagerly caught at every rumor of exchange as " a drowning man 
grasps at a straw," but it was only repeated disappointment. His 
condition grew worse from day to day. Finally a list of names 
came for exchange, and every man listened with breathless interest 
as it was read. How anxiously did poor Parks listen in hopes of 
hearing his own name, but the list was completed, the paper 
folded and his name was not called. Turning sadly away, it 
seemed as if the last ray of hope had disappeared and he was to 
be left to a lingering death. Those whose names had been called 
were happy in anticipation of getting into " God's country " once 
more (wherever our flag floated was called by prisoners '* God's 
country ") , of seeing friends and home and of getting away from 
suffering and starvation. A comrade, Francis M. Harrington by 
name, private of Company K, Fifty-Seventh, who was captured 
at the same time with Parks, was made happy by hearing his own 
name called from the list for exchange, but witnessing Parks' 



192 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



bitter disappointment and knowing that it was sure death for him 
to remain longer in prison, with heroic self-sacrifice, stepped aside 
and gave way to Parks, and the latter was exchanged in his place. 
But the sad story we tell of him can be told of hundreds of 
others. He never lived to reach that home he had so longed for, 
but died Sept. 19th, 1864, soon after reaching Annapolis, Md. 
Prison life had killed him. Harrington remained in prison for 
some time longer, and when finally exchanged was completely 
broken in health. This incident was not related to us by 
Harrington, who is too modest to speak in praise of himself, but 
was learned through others who vouch for its truth. Such inci- 
dents as these were rare indeed. 

No one, but those who have suffered as prisoners of war, can 
know what an unselfish sacrifice Harrington made. With liberty, 
life, home and friends within his grasp, he gave them all to 
save the life of his comrade. Deeds of valor upon the battle- 
field can be painted in glowing colors, but what painter's brush 
can portray the valor of the man who gives all his long cherished 
hopes to another, while he remains to suffer exposure, disease 
and slow starvation ! Such heroes have lived and passed silently 
away, with no record of their brave deeds save that the influence 
of such lives is never lost in the community where they dwell in 
humble security. 

Chaplain Dashiell, in writing of this battle, says: "The 
regiment had nothing to regret, except that their splendid courage 
and great sacrifice failed to accomplish anything worthy of t he 
cause, owing to the bungling and incapacity of the division com- 
mander. Indeed, the wretched leadership of these commanders 
made the fatal day memorable for the useless waste of life. The 
rebels on this, as on a former occasion at Cold Harbor, showed 
their inhumanity in denying a Hag of truce for the purpose of 
rescuing the wounded lying between the lines; and it was not 
until .Monday, two days following, that it was allowed, when 
the burying party could scarcely distinguish a black man from 
a white one. and many of the wounded had died from want of 

attention." 



PETERSBURG MINE. 193 

A letter was received by the chaplain from Danville, where 
our men were carried as prisoners, giving a deplorable account of 
their condition. Men were robbed of their clothing and were 
suffering for the want of it. A supply was sent by Colonel 
Tufts, the Massachusetts State Agent, through the Exchange 
Bureau at Richmond, which never reached them. 

Information was received that Sergt. Dwight D. Allen of 
Company H was mortally wounded and died in the hands of the 
enemy. Sergeant Allen was a brave soldier and one who was 
greatly beloved and respected by both officers and enlisted men. 
He is spoken of as "genial, kind and faithful in all his inter- 
course with the regiment." 

In a private letter from General Bartlett soon after his 
capture, he said : "It was impossible to withdraw without sacri- 
ficing all the men, so I held on as long as possible in hope of 
reinforcements. The negroes were crowded in the same pit 
with us when they retreated in such confusion, and we have 
been treated worse on account of being taken with them." 

We have heretofore spoken of the intense hatred caused by 
the Government of the United States employing colored men as 
soldiers. It seemed to add increased poison to the sting of death 
to be shot by a negro. The Confederates considered such an act 
as violating all rules of warfare and the sacred rights of humanity. 
To such a high pitch did this feeling rise that Jefferson Davis, 
President of the Southern Confederacy, referring to President 
Lincoln's proclamation abolishing slavery and authorizing the 
employment of negroes in the armed forces of the United States, 
in his third annual message to the Confederate Congress, made 
use of the following language: "Our own detestation of those 
who have attempted the most execrable measures recorded in the 
history of guilty man is tempered by profound contempt for the 
impotent rage which it discloses. So far as regards the action of 
this government on such criminals as may attempt its execution, 
I confine myself to informing you that I shall, unless in your 
wisdom you deem some other course more expedient, deliver to 
the several State authorities all commissioned officers of the 
United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in 

13 



194 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



any of the States embraced in the proclamation, that they be 
dealt with in accordance with the laws of those States providing 
for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile 
insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat as 
unwilling instruments in the commission of these crimes and shall 
direct their discharge and return to their homes on the proper and 
usual parole." 

The effect of this measure upon the Confederate Congress 
was to cause it to pass a resolution, by both houses, defining a 
law, then in force, in relation to servile insurrection, the penalty 
of which was death, and declaring all officers in command of 
colored troops guilty of the violation of it, and when captured, 
they were to suffer the full penalty which it provided. While this 
resolution does not pertain directly to the history of the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, yet it concerned the officers of the Fifty- 
Seventh as well as all other officers captured at the crater where 
colored troops were engaged, and shows that they were treated 
with more severity and greater indignity, as prisoners, on that 
account. This resolution is such an extraordinary piece of legis- 
lation and published in so few histories of the war, 1 have consid- 
ered it a matter in which all surviving members of the Fifty-Seventh 
will feel an interest. 

Resolved, By the Congress of the Confederate States of America, in 
response to the message of the President, transmitted to Congress a1 the 
commencement of the present session: First, That in the opinion of 
Congress, the commissioned officers of the enemy oughl not to be deliv- 
ered to the authorities of the respectives States, as suggested in the 
said message, bu1 all captives taken by the Confederate force- ought to 
be dealt with and disposed of by the Confederate government. 

1S1 cond, That in the judgment of Congress , l lie proclamations of the 
President of the United stales, dated respectively Sept. 22d, 1862, and 
Jan. 1st, 1868, and other measures of the government of the United 
state- and of Its authorities, commanders and forces designed or tending 
to emancipate slaves In the < lonfederate States, or to abduct such slaves, 
or to incite them to insurrection, or to employ negroes in war against 
the Confederate states, or to overthrow the institution of African 
slavery, and bring on a servile war in these state-, would. If successful, 
produce atrocious consequences, and they are inconsistent with the spirit 
of those usages which. In modern warfare, prevail among civilized 



PETERSBURG JUNE. 195 

nations; they may, therefore, be properly and lawfully repressed by 
retaliation. 

Third, That in every case wherein, during the present war, any 
violation of the laws or usages of war among civilized nations shall be 
or has been done or perpetrated by those acting under the authority of 
the government of the United States, on the persons or property of the 
citizens of the Confederate States, or of those under the protection or 
in the laud or naval service of the Confederate States, or of any State of 
the Confederacy, the President of the Confederate States is hereby 
authorized to cause full and ample retaliation to be made for every such 
violation, in such manner and to such extent as he may think proper. 

Fourth, That every white person, being a commissioned officer, or 
acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or 
mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, 
train, organize or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service 
against the Confederate States, or who s"hall voluntarily aid negroes or 
mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack or conflict in such service, 
shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, 
be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the 
court. 

Fifth, Every person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as 
such, in the service of the euemy, who shall, during the present war, 
excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be excited, a servile insurrection, 
or who shall incite or cause to be incited, a slave to rebel, shall, if cap- 
tured, be put to death, or otherwise punished at the discretion of the 
court. 

Sixth, Every person charged with an offense punishable under the 
preceding resolutions shall, during the present war, be tried before the 
military court attached to the army or corps, by the troops of which he 
shall have been captured, or by such other military court as the President 
may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations as the President 
shall prescribe : and after conviction the President may commute the 
punishment in such manner and on such terms as he may deem 
proper 

These resolutions were of the most surprising character. 
Under their provisions almost any Federal officer engaged in 
battle where colored troops were employed, could easily be con- 
victed and made liable to the penalties for which they provided. 
Colored soldiers and their white officers who had heretofore been 
captured by the Confederates had, in more than one instance, 
been wantonly murdered. It required more than ordinary courage 
to command colored troops under the provisions of these resolu- 



196 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

tions- and in the face of the atrocities that had already been 
committed upon them. They were not only exposed to the 
dangers of battle, but were treated to every indignity, if captured, 
and even then stood in greater danger of death than in actual 
battle; yet the officers who led the colored troops through the 
crater did so without flinching and behaved in the most gallant 
manner, as did also the men who followed them. There were 
many conspicuous incidents of gallantry that day that were passed 
unobserved. 

As the Fifty- Seventh claims a share in the history of the 
crater of which it is not ashamed, we beg to pause before pro- 
ceeding to the next chapter to note the views and conclusions that 
were arrived at by a Court of Inquiry, which was ordered by the 
President to examine into, report upon the facts and circum- 
stances and fix the responsibility for the failure. The court was 
convened at City Point and spent considerable time in taking 
testimony, much of which was conflicting. After careful delibera- 
tion the court rendered the following decision fixing the responsi- 
bility : — 

I. Major-General A. E. Burnside, United States Volunteers, he 
having failed to obey the orders of the commanding general. 

1st. In not giving such formation to his assaulting column as to 
insure a reasonable prospect of success. 

I'd. In not preparing his parapet> and abatis lor the passage of the 
column^ of assault 

3d. Iii 1101 employing engineer officers, who reported to him, to 
lead tli*- assaulting columns with working parties, and not causing to be 
provided proper materials necessary for crowning the crest, when the 
assaulting column should arrive there. 

Uli. In neglecting to execute Major-General Meade's orders re- 
specting the prompt advance of General Ledlie's fcr >s from the crater 

,,, the crest; or, in default of accomplishing that, not causing those 
troops to fall back and give place to other troops more willing and equal 
to the task, instead of delaying until the opportunity passed away, thus 
affording time for the enemy to recover from his surprise, concentrate 
his fire and bring his troops to operate against the Dnion troops assem- 
bled uselessly In the crater. Notwithstanding the failure to comply with 
orders, and to applj proper military principles, ascribed to General 
Burnside, the Court Is satisfied he believed thai the measures taken by 
him would Insure success. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 197 

II Brigadier-General J. H. Ledlie, United States Volunteers, he 
having failed to push forward his division promptly according to orders, 
and thereby blocking up the avenue which was designed for the 
passage of troops ordered to follow and support him in the assault. It 
is in evidence that no commander reported to General Burnside that his 
troops could not be got forward, which the Court regards as a neglect 
of duty on the part of General Ledlie, inasmuch as a timely report of the 
misbehavior might have enabled General Burnside, commanding the 
assault, to have made other arrangements for prosecuting it before it 
became too late. Instead of being with his division during this difficulty 
in the crater, and by his personal efforts endeavoring to lead his troops 
forward, he was most of the time in a bomb-proof, ten rods in the rear 
of the main line of the Ninth Corps works, where it was impossible for 
him to see anything of the movements of troops that were going on. 

III. Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero, United States Volunteers. 

1st. For not having all his troops found ready for the attack at 
the prescribed time. 

2d. In not going forward with them to the attack. 

3d. Being in a bomb-proof habitually where he could not see the 
operations of his troops, showing by his own order, issued while there, 
that he did not know the position of two brigades of his division, or 
whether they had taken Cemetery Hill or not. 

4th. Colonel Z. R. Bliss, Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers, com- 
manding First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Corps. In this, that he 
remained behind with the only regiment of his brigade which did not go 
forward according to the orders, and occupied a position where he 
could not properly command a brigade which formed a portion of an 
assaulting column, and where he could not see what was going on. 

5th. Brigadier-General O. B. Wilcox, United States Volunteers. The 
Court is not satisfied that General Wilcox's division made efforts commen- 
surate with the occasion to carry out General Burnside's order to advance 
to Cemetery Hill, and they think that more energy might have been exer- 
cised by Brigadier-General Wilcox to cause his troops to go forward to 
that point. 

Without intending to convey the impression that there was any 
disinclination on the part of the commanders of the supports to heartily 
co-operate in the attack on the 30th of July, the Court express their 
opinion that explicit orders should have been given, assigning one 
officer to the command of all the troops intended to engage in the 
assault when the commanding general was not present in person to 
witness the operations. 

After reading the last few lines one would naturally ask why 
the " commanding general was not present in person to witness 



198 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



the operations " ? This is a question beyond our province and 
which we cannot answer, except to say that it was trusted to 
another. 

In the paragraph censuring General Ledlie is found an im- 
plication that the men of the First Division misbehaved and could 
not be made to go forward. They appear to have been held 
responsible for the failure of their commander to be with them, 
and for not obeying orders, the existence of which the} 7 were in 
entire ignorance. It has been previously explained that the 
orders were not communicated to the men of the division, and 
they did not know what was expected of them until the confusion 
became too great and the opposition, in both front and flank, too 
strong to reasonably hope for success. This was confirmed later 
bj T those who were present at the time, including General 
Bartlett, and the Confederate commanders themselves, who wore 
not given to saying much in favor of Federal troops. It was 
like putting a company or regiment on drill and expecting them 
to go through all the evolutions correctly without a drill master or 
a word of command. 

The First Division of the Ninth Corps, being unfortunate in 
its commander, had to suffer all the odium which justly should 
have fallen upon him; even General Grant shared in this feeling 
and gives expression to it in his Memoirs. In speaking of the 
mine affair and the Ninth Corps on page 313, Vol. 2, he says: 
" Burnside seemed to have paid no attention whatever to the in- 
structions and left all the obstructions in his own front for his 
troops to get over the best way they could. The four divisions 
of liis corps were commanded by Generals Potter. Wilcox, Ledlie 
ami Ferrero. The last was a colored division, and Burnside 
selected it to make the assault; .Meade interfered with this. 

Burnside then took Ledlie's division, a worse selection than the 

first could have been. In fact Potter and Wilcox wert' the only 

division commanders Burnside had who were equal to the occasion. 
Ledlie, besides being inefficient, proved also to possess disqualifi- 
cations le>s common among soldiers." 

It seems singular thai it should take General Grant all this 
time to find oul what had already been known, by the rank- and 



PETERSBURG MINE. 199 

file of the First Division, for some time. The affair at North 
Anna river, heretofore mentioned, fully demonstrated that, yet 
soon after this General Ledlie was promoted from the command 
of a brigade to that of a division. Were the men to protest and 
decline further service under him ? Such an act would have been 
mutiny. They continued, like good soldiers, in the performance 
of their duty. It was not the fault of those brave men who went 
through the deadly breach into the crater that their general, and 
others, were in a secure bomb-proof far in rear, and it was not 
their fault that the heights of Cemetery Hill were not carried ; al- 
though we admit that they could have been if those whose duty it 
was to be present in command had been there in person to lead 
without delay ; but after this, and when all regimental and 
brigade organizations were broken and mixed, it was just as im- 
possible to accomplish this with the troops in the crater as it 
would have been to roll back the ocean's tide or check the onward 
course of a tornado. The charge of the six hundred at Balaklava 
did not lead through a darker valley of death. Every order that 
was received by the Fifty-Seventh, from proper authority, was 
executed as far as human strength and superior bravery could do. 
We have only to point to the gallant efforts of such men as 
Prescott, Dresser and Howe of the Fifty-Seventh, each of whom 
fell in a vain but desperate attempt to lead the charge upon 
Cemetery Hill, and fell beyond the mouth of the crater. With 
three officers killed, two wounded and one missing, making a 
total battle loss of six out of seven officers belonging to the Fifty- 
Seventh, can anyone discover any dishonor worthy of reproach or 
"misbehavior" resting upon the regiment whose history we are 
laboring to record honestly and faithfully, even if it did belonu to 
a poorly commanded division? 

We claim that a greater credit is due them, that the} 7 fought 
and bled and died in obedience to duty under command of one in 
whom they had no confidence. Whatever opinion General Grant 
may have had of the commander of the First Division, it remains 
a matter which will stand upon the pages of history, that from the 
beginning of the campaign down to the time of which he 
was writing, the First Division of the Ninth Corps had par- 



200 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



ticipated in every engagement of the campaign. Its blood bad 
been poured out as freely as water and stained every battle- 
field from the Wilderness to Petersburg. With the living memory 
of such names as Stevenson and Gonld and Chandler and Gird 
and Southey before us, we feel that we have nothing to blush for 
and no apologies to make. Standing with such regiments as the 
4th and 10th Regulars, the former General Grant's own regiment, 
the 21st, 35th, 56th and 59th Massachusetts, we cannot feel 
ashamed of the company we were in. With the record of thirty 
officers and three hundred and eighty-five enlisted men killed and 
wounded from the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts alone, its sur- 
viving members are willing to stand upon the pages of history and 
let posterity be their judge. 

A greater loss cannot be shown by any regiment in the Army 
of the Potomac for the same length of time. Repeatedly thrown 
against embattled walls until its shattered and bleeding ranks had 
been almost annihilated, it still stood ready to perform its duty, 
when thai duty was made plain. As to why it did not go 
forward on this fatal day it can be said that there was very little 
of it left to go forward. It had been steadily and bravely going 
forward and onward beyond the dark river. Call the roll over 
unknown graves, call it from battlefield, hospital and prison pen, 
and the answer will tell how it went forward. Whatever ignominy 
may attach, whatever historians may write, or critics say. the old 
Fifty-Seventh will ever cherish the memory of the crater and never 
fear to tell the story, even though it is one of disaster and defeat. 

A short time after this affair General Ledlie resigned and 
retired to the peaceful shades of private life, for which he was 
specially adapted. It is not surprising that General Grant should 
feel a deep chagrin over the miserable failure thai had been made. 
The friends of General Burnside reasonably claimed, thai as the 
Court of Enquiry was composed of officers serving in the Army of 
the Potomac under I iciieral .Meade, the result of their deliberations 
was more or less biased. It was well known that General .Meade 
had not from the lirst much confidence in the enterprise and did 

not. therefore, enter heartily into it. The Congressional "Com- 
mittee on the Conduct of the War," after examining carefully 



PETERSBURG MINE. 201 

into all the facts and circumstances, did not arrive at the same 
conclusions in fixing the responsibility as did the Court of Inquiry. 
The following extracts are copied from the committee's report as 
rendered several months after the affair and published in Con- 
gressional records : — 

Your committee cannot, from all the testimony, avoid the conclu- 
sion that the first and great cause of the disaster was the change made 
on the afternoon preceding the attack, in the arrangement of General 
Burnside to place the division of colored troops in the advance. The 
reasons assigned by General Burnside for not taking one of his divisions 
of white troops for that purpose are fully justified by the result of the 
attack .... The conduct of the colored troops when they were put in 
action would seem to fully justify the confidence that General Burnside 
reposed in them, and General Grant himself, in his testimony, expresses 
his belief that if they had been placed in the advance as General Burnside 
desired, the result would have been difl'erent .... It will be seen from 
the testimony, that when the order to withdraw was given by General 
Meade, against the representations made by General Burnside, orders 
were also given by General Meade for offensive operations to cease on 
the right and left of General Burnside's position, and General Ord's 
troops were at the same time withdrawn from the front, where they had 
been placed in support of the Ninth Corps. The enemy were thus left 
entirely free to make such dispositions as they chose against the force of 
General Burnside within their lines .... Your committee desires to 
say, that in the statement of facts and conclusions which they present in 
their report, they wish to be distinctly understood as in no degree cen- 
suring the conduct of the troops engaged in this assault. While they 
confidently believe that the selection of the division of colored troops by 
General Burnside to lead the assault was, under the circumstances, the 
best that could have been made, they do not intend thereby to have it 
inferred that the white troops of the Ninth Corps are behind any troops 
in the service in those qualities which have placed our volunteer troops 
before the world as equal, if not superior, to any known to modern war- 
fare. The services performed by the Ninth Corps on many a well-fought 
battlefield, not only in this campaign, but in others, have been such as 
to prove that they are second to none in the service. Your committee 
believe that any other troops exposed to the same influences, under the 
same circumstances, and for the same length of time, would have been 
similarly att'ected. No one, upon careful consideration of all the circum- 
stances, can be surprised that those influences should have produced the 
effects they did on them. 

In conclusion your committee must say that, in their opinion, the 
cause of the disastrous assault of the 30th of July last, is mainly at- 



202 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



tribntable to the fact that the plans and suggestions of the general who 
had devoted his attention for so long a time to the subject, who had 
carried out to a successful completion the project of mining the enemy's 
works, and who had carefully selected and drilled his troops for the 
purpose of securing whatever advantages might be attainable from the 
explosion of the mine, should have been so entirely disregarded by a 
general who had evinced no faith in the successful prosecution of 
that work, had aided it by no countenance or open approval and had 
assumed the entire direction and control only when it was completed and 
the time had come for reaping any advantages that might be derived 
from it. 

This report was made, after the dust had settled around the 
crater, by a body of congressmen of whom Senator Wade of Ohio 
was chairman ; gentlemen who were interested only in the welfare 
of the country and wholly unbiased. Their report, therefore, 
would seem to have greater weight than that of the Court of 
Inquiry. They found no "misbehavior" on the part of the 
troops employed. 

Some time after having closed the chapter on the crater, we 
were handed a paper by Col. Thomas W. Clarke of Boston, for- 
merly assistant adjutant-general of one of the brigades engaged 
in the crater. The notes from which Colonel Clarke prepared his 
manuscript were made, he tells .us, in the spring of L865 as a 
basis upon which Colonel Marshall made his application for a 
Court of Inquiry. 

Colonel Clarke was certainly in a position to know what the 
orders were from the division commander. The great point which 
he makes, and it is a most important one, is that Genera] Ledlie 
gave positive orders thai the First Division should not go forward 
beyond the crater. This is in direct contradiction to the order of 
General .Meade to General Burnside; while paragraph two of 
( leneial Burnside's order to his division commanders says : " Gen- 
era] Ledlie will, immediately upon the explosion of the mine, 
move his division forward as directed by verba] orders and it' 
possible, crown the cresl at the point known as Cemetery Hill, 
occupying, if possible, the cemetery." It would appear thai this 
oiiler is too plain to be misunderstood. Colonel Clarke's detailed 



PETERSBURG MINE. 203 

account of what took place after the explosion was that seen 
by him. 

" NOTES ON THE TRAGEDY OF THE CRATER. 

"The writer of this was acting assistant adjutant-general 
for Colonel, afterwards Bvt. Brig. -Gen. E. G. .Marshall, at the 
assault of the mine, and adds the following statements to the 
accounts given of this affair. These statements are not intended 
to impugn the accuracy of observation or the recollection of other 
writers, but to supplement them by the observation and recollec- 
tion of another. No two men observe alike, and the standpoint 
of observation often affects its perspective. 

" Colonel Marshall was a captain in the regular army, and was 
retired soon after the war.- He died some years since. General 
McLaughlen, another regular captain, was retired as major, and 
died in January, 1887. Colonel Marshall made some prepara- 
tion for an investigation of the affair of the mine by a Court of 
Inquiry to be summoned at his request, but probably made no 
formal application for it, having somehow ascertained it would 
not be granted. He was never satisfied with the story told of 
this affair. It is a part of the supplement which he would have 
added, which his adjutant now writes, stating, however, hardly 
more than those facts which are within his own personal knowl- 
edge. 

" Colonel Marshall had been wounded on June 17th, and had 
reported for duty late in July. He had commanded the Second 
Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps, only a few days before 
the 30th of July, 1864. He did not then know even his own line 
well and had worked himself and his staff very hard and danger- 
ously to educate himself in this regard. General Bartlett had 
also recently returned to his brigade, and was new to his position, 
his troops, his grade and his responsibilities. He had but one 
leg and it pained him to ride or walk. On the afternoon of July 
29th, about four o'clock, Marshall went to division headquarters, 
and later, a little before dark, summoned his adjutant-general to 
report to him at or near the fourteen-gun battery, afterwards 
known as Fort Morton. Ledlie, Bartlett, Marshall and some staff 



204 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



officers were present. A plan of the movement was explained at 
that interview to Bartlett and Marshall, and was subsequently 
explained by Marshall to his battalion commanders and to his 
staff. From this place Marshall, his adjutant-general and per- 
haps one or two other officers, went to the salient selected as the 
place of formation, and hastily, after sundown, examined the 
ground. The adjutant-general then returned to brigade head- 
quarters to give the necessary preparatory orders, and to summon 
the battalion commanders to brigade headquarters. Marshall 
returned about 8 p.m., met his battalion commanders, communi- 
cated his instructions, and about eleven o'clock the troops were 
relieved and marched to the salient of formation. 

" The plan as given by General Ledlie to Bartlett and Mar- 
shall, and as given by Marshall to his battalion commanders, was 
to this effect, and it was on this plan that Marshall and Bartlett 
worked. The Second Brigade was to be formed in column of 
battalion front. (It made three lines of about four hundred men 
each.) On the explosion of the mine it was to move forward 
and occupy the enemy's works on the right of the crater, skirting 
its edge, but not going into it. The First Brigade was to follow 
with about the same front and occupy the works on the left of 
the crater, not going intoit. When the lodgment had been made, 
it was to be secured and connected with our lines by our engineer 
regiment, 35th Massachusetts. The Second Division was then to 
extend this lodgment still more to the right, the Third Division 
was to extend it to the left in the enemy's works by a front 
attack, and the colored division was then to pass through the 
crater and assault the hill in the rear. Marshall's distinct in- 
structions were thai the security of the lodgment was the prime 
duly of the First Division and the hill was a subordinate object; 
and General Ledlie's instructions, as beard, conveyed no other 
meaning to me. or. as will appear later, to General Bartlett or 

Adjutant Warren. 

"The drill and habits of the First Division, accustomed to 

line attacks and not to regimental column manoeuvres, were not 
adapted to the plan of formation designed for the colored division, 
with its proposed tactical conversions to right and left after the 



PETERSBURG MINE. 205 

works were reached, but the ultimate effect of the manoeuvres was 
to be the same. The flanks were to be cleared before the attack 
on the hill. Marshall was explicit that his brigade was to confine 
its attention to seizing and holding as great a length of line on the 
right of the crater as possible, and that the work beyond, to the 
enemy's rear, was to be done by other troops. His phrase about 
it was this : ' AVhen we have secured the lodgment, Ferrero will 
take the negroes through the crater, which we shall have left clear 
for them, and see what they can do beyond.' Marshall's brigade 
consisted of the Provisional 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, the 
3d Maryland Battalion, a small veteran organization of prime 
quality, well led, the 179th New York Battalion, six companies 
of a uew and incomplete regiment, greatly depleted by the 
campaign, and the 14th New York Heavy Artillery. Marshall's 
arrangement of the column for the assault assigned the Pennsyl- 
vania regiment to lead, Marshall himself in charge, the 3d 
Maryland and 179th New York battalions were to follow, under 
command of Lieut. -Col. G. P. Robinson of the 3d Maryland, an 
experienced and competent soldier. The 14th New York Artillery 
formed the third line. This regiment was new, had been badly 
treated in the campaign, and was then commanded by Captain 
Jones, an officer of fiery zeal, but of ho great experience at that 
time. Colonel Marshall detailed his adjutant-general to lead 
this third line. The first line of Bartlett's brigade, consisting of 
the Fifty-Seventh and 29th Massachusetts, led by Major Prescott 
of the Fifty-Seventh, was deployed in line in rear of Marshall. 
The rest of Bartlett's brigade stood by the flank in a covered way 
in rear of the salient of formation. It consisted of the 21st, 
56th and 59th Massachusetts, and the 100th Pennsylvania. 

"The 29th Massachusetts comprised about a hundred and 
twenty-five muskets in the hands of three-years veterans. The 
21st was somewhat more numerous, and its personnel had served 
within a few months of three years. The 56th, 57th * and 
59th Massachusetts had from 200 to 300 men each. They 
were new regiments composed mainly of re-enlisted nine months' 
troops. The 100th Pennsylvania had about 500 men present 
under arms. It was a veteran regiment which had been filled 



*The Fifty-Seventh had only 91.— J. A. 



206 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

while on furlough, and about half the men present were recruits. 
Bartlett had about 1800 men under arms. These figures are only 
proximate. 

" The troops were of better than average quality, and the 
battalion and company commanders had almost all seen a year's 
service, or more, in the field, in positions of officers or sergeants. 
The order in which these troops stood in the covered way is not 
known. Colonel Gould commanded the 59th ; Colonel "Weld the 
56th ; Captain Tripp the 29th ; Colonel Barnes being officer of 
the day; Captain Clarke commanded the 21st a part of the day, 
perhaps not at the very first. The commander of the 100th is not 
remembered. It had suffered frequent losses of regimental com- 
manders in that fatal three months' campaign before the mine 
affair. 

" The time between the explosion of the mine and Marshall's 
advance was not taken. It may be estimated from a contempo- 
raneous occurrence as follows : Colonel Marshall had sent for the 
writer from his place with the third line, and had announced that 
the explosion had been delayed and was to come off right away. 
Marshall was leaning with his left arm on the parapet as he made 
this communication. The writer was half facing him with his 
right arm on the parapet, and was rising to turn away from 
Marshall to go to his line, when there was a tremor, the enemy's 
fort rose slowly, then more rapidly in the air. There flashed* out 
a lily-shaped fountain of dark red and yellow lire, with brown 
spots and streaks in it, in shape like an old ring jet of water, 
called the "lily," in the Boston Frog Pond fountain. While it 
was in the air the adjutant-general turned half back and said, 
'Colonel, was anything ever so beautiful as that?* Marshall's 
words were almost simultaneously spoken: 'Gentlemen, take 
command of your lines. 2d Pennsylvania, rise up. Forward, 
March: By the right Hank ; inarch. Over the parapet, and swinu, 
up your left.' Similar commands were given to the second line 
by Colonel Robinson, alter .Marshall's line had moved. The third 
line Started tip and forward before the second had cleared the 
works. It was checked and halted a moment or so till the second 
had cleared the works. This check, CO,U8ed '"I " tOO rapid <i<l- 



PETERSBURG MINE. 207 

vance of the third line, was the confusion of the Second Brigade, 
and the only confusion at that time. 

' ' The reason for moving the lines successively was that the 
place of formation was only about forty yards deep and the 
troops lying down in two ranks, with file closers in their places, 
left only very narrow intervals between the lines, so the succes- 
sive movement was ordered. As more than three-quarters of 
Bartlett's brigade stood uncleployed in the covered way, it is plainly 
seen that for them to clear the covered way, form line and advance, 
which they must do successively, would require several minutes, 
probably ten, before the rear battalions charged. 

"Advancing over the field at an objective at about thirty 
degrees angle with our line of formation and some three hundred 
yards distant, there was not much swinging up of the left, and 
the Second Brigade skirted the edge of the crater and filed into 
the enemy's works on the right by the flank. Three covered ways 
led out on that side from the pit left by the explosion. One 
nearest our lines was the main line of works, one led somewhat 
to the rear, at an angle of about twenty degrees, a third still more 
to the rear, but not at over fifty degrees angle with the main line. 
After the third line entered the works, a cannon, whose chase was 
half buried, muzzle down, by the explosion, and which had its 
trail laid over on the reinforce of the piece, fell, completely over- 
turned. In the edge of the crater, as the third line passed, a pair 
of naked legs, belonging to a man who was buried head down to 
the waist, were seen brandishing, and a sergeant of the 14th was 
ordered to dig out the man and keep him for examination .... 

u As the third line of troops went around the outside of the 
crater, Lieut. Green Smith, one of Marshall's aides, said, 'The 
colonel directs you to occupy the centre ditch. He has gone into 
this one (pointing to the one most distant from our lines) and 
Colonel Robinson into this ' (pointing to the one nearest our 
lines). The covered way so entered by the 14th New York 
Artillery was a cul-de-sac about three to four hundred feet long, 
and was closed by a heavy traverse. The 14th Artillery went 
to the end of the ditch, manned the traverse and began to fire on 
some Confederate troops in a flanking work not far distant. The 



•208 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEOIMEXT MASS. VOLUXTEEKS. 



writer went back and reported to Marshall in the edge of the 
crater. At that time the only troops in the crater were a few 
men engaged in digging out or righting a brass cannon, the 
men who had dug out the Confederate spoken of, Colonel 
Marshall and some of his staff, Colonel Robinson and a few 
Confederate prisoners. 

" Colonel Robinson had made his report from his position 
before the report from the 14th New York Artillery was made. 
And while the writer was making that, Bartlett came in at the 
head of his brigade, hopping along very cheerily, aiding himself 
by a stout malacca cane with an ivory cross handle. The 
29th, 56th and 57th Massachusetts were directed into Robin- 
son's covered way, the 21st Massachusetts and 100th Pennsyl- 
vania went into the ditch where Marshall had led the 2d 
Pennsylvania Artillery, and part of the 100th manned the edge 
of the crater on the enemy's side. Where the 59th was posted 
the writer does not now remember. 

" It will be seen that under the instructions given for Mar- 
shall to occupy the works on the right of the mine, and for Bartlett 
to occupy the works on the left of the mine, their troops had gone 
into the same works, one assuming the right to be our right, and 
the other taking the left for the enemy's left. It will also be seen 
that only the line consisting of the Provisional and Pennsylvania 
Artillery, the 21st Massachusetts and 100th Pennsylvania had an 
open Held lief ore them to move over. Robinson, however, moved 
on in the main line, charging around several traverses, capturing 
many prisoners and having a continual skirmish with small groups 
of Confederates across the traverses, conducted mostly by a squad 
of sharpshooters of his command, armed with Spencers, and 
under immediate charge, that day, of Sergt. -lack Walters. 
Colonel Robinson and other officers of the 3d Maryland. Lieu- 
tenant Randall, 4th I'.S. [nfantry and other officers, were, more 
than once, seen Leading small squads in charges around these 
traverses. The distance to the right of the crater, reached by 
Colonel Koliins( ui's right, was estimated, al that time, at over three 

hundred and fifty yards. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 209 

" In August, 1879, the writer of this revisited the scene. He 
declared that he recognized, from the lay of the land and the 
prospect, a position reached by him that day ; but his views were 
disputed by his hack driver, who said he was a hundred yards too 
far out, but who, at that very spot aud time, kicked out of the 
ground an exploded Spencer shell, an ammunition not used by 
Confederates and used by us that day. The point at which this 
was found was nearly four hundred and fifty paces to the right of 
the grove which marks the line of the gallery of the mine. This 
Confederate front line had been occupied far enough along to 
unmask the traverses spoken of and expose the hollow flank of a 
somewmat crooked, covered way leading from Cemetery Hill, to 
be hereafter referred to. 

" Before the advance of the colored troops, no Federal soldiers 
were on the right of Colonel Robinson's detachment, but there 
were troops of the Second Division on his left. Oue of Robin- 
son's men had taken all the tins from his cartridge box and filled 
it with loose Spencer ammunition. A shot struck it and ex- 
ploded enough shells to tear open all the stitching between the 
outer leathern face and the sides, and the outside hung dangling 
down from the waist belt. The man's answer to an inquiry what 
had happened, was, 'Ammunition wagon bio wed up., sir.' No 
one was seriously hurt in this affair. 

' ' Within a very few minutes after the works had been occu- 
pied by the Second Brigade, and after Bartlett's troops had come 
in, Colonel Marshall declared himself satisfied that a further 
advance should be made at once, and sent to General Lecllie to 
ask permission to carry some works to the right and right rear. 
One of his messengers, Lieut. Green Smith, fell sunstruck before 
delivering the message. 

" While examining the ground in front of the position of the 
Provisional 2d Pennsylvania Artillery, it became manifest that 
there was a covered way or sunken road leading from the hill 
down towards the fort, which was manned pretty heavily by Con- 
federates, and from which a formidable flank fire was plied upon 
our troops, ami rendered an advance up the hill worse than 
dangerous. To eliminate this seemed the first condition of further 



14 



210 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

success, and Marshall and Bartlett ordered their brigades to be 
got ready to attack this covered way obliquely. Colouel Robinson, 
who had some clear ground before him, was to move out and for- 
ward, supported by the 56th, 57th and 29lh of Bartlett's brigade, 
who were to form Robinson's second line by moving to the right, 
along the Confederate front line, and to keep down the flank and 
rear fire. The Provisional 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, the 
21st Massachusetts and the 100th Pennsylvania were to swing up 
their left and align with Robinson, and the 14th New York Artillery 
was to file over the traverse at the end of the covered way, and 
form the second line for this detachment. These four combined 
movements were attempted, with the result of developing a heavy 
flank fire from a covered way leading from the hill down toward 
the destroyed fort. The color bearer of the 21st Massachusetts, 
and Captain Clark, its commander, were killed or fatally wounded 
in the attempt. The two Pennsylvania regiments lost heavily in 
officers and men, and Colonel Robinson's command and the 14th 
Artillery were badly handled by a flank and rear fire. 

"It was during this movement that some troops of the 
Second and Third Divisions appeared in the works on the right of 
the crater, and after this movement our troops seemed to have 
occupied the works on the left of the crater, and to have Idled 
the crater itself. The sun had risen shortly before this attempted 
advance. After a short discussion between Marshall and Bartlett 
as to whether such an attack was within their orders, Marshall 
maintaining that it was. because, though on the right and front of 
the position he was ordered to, there had no one come in on his 
right to do the work, and no one could move forward till this 
covered way was occupied; and Bartlett Baying that anything 
which woidd permit the negroes to assault the hill was within the 
Orders, a new advance was resolved on, in the same formation 

and tactics, ami the regimental commanders were sent for ami 
received instructions. 

"Alter an interval, just before the colored troops appealed, 
the staff officers, sent to see if all was ready, reported hack, and 
were about to B6l oil again for the heads of columns when 

Marshall said : 'Here is Ferrero. Hadn't we better hold onto 



PETERSBURG MINE. 211 

what we have got, till we see what the Egyptians can do for us?' 
Bavtlett assented, and Marshall said : ' Gentlemen, we will sus- 
pend our movement.' The colored troops moved no further to 
the right than to Robinson's position, and from there attempted 
their several advances. 

" After the first repulse Colonel Robinson, Lieutenant Randall 
and the writer made their way back to Marshall to report that the 
colored troops should be urged, with authority, to attack further to 
the right, and in returning together were encountered by an irre- 
sistible mass of retreating men and swept back into the field half 
way to our works. Marshall then directed those of his command, 
who were near him, to fall back to our lines and re-form. 

" At this time the larger part of the survivors of Marshall's 
and Bartlett's brigades fell back to the lines. Marshall put 
Colonel Robinson in command, and directed that, as soon as the 
men were again in order, a report should be sent to General Ledlie, 
and that they should be advanced against the Confederate works on 
the right of our former position, and meantime that a fire should be 
kept up towards our right. He then returned to the crater to 
' assist General Bartlett.' Colonel Robinson sent a report to 
Ledlie, by Lieutenant Randall, that there were four hundred and 
fifty men of the Second Brigade formed and ready to go forward, 
and that he proposed to attack to the right of the old position, and 
to secure that flank from which all the trouble had come. A 
similar report is believed to have been sent concerning the rallied 
men of the First Brigade, by Colonel Barnes, who had shortly 
before brought up the outgoing pickets, and had held them to- 
gether just outside of the enemy's works. Randall brought back 
the message that we were not to advance, but the troops in the 
mine were to be withdrawn. 

' ' While these events were taking place in and around the 
mine, the 35th Massachusetts, the First Division engineering regi- 
ment, had been vigorously at work running a flying sap from a 
point to the right of the gallery of the mine towards a point some- 
what to the right of the crater, and had, at the time of the repulse, 
made considerable progress. This work became untenable after 
the loss of Robinson's position, and was abandoned shortly after. 



212 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



" It was the salient fact above set forth that Marshall never 
suspected, nor had reason to suspect, that General Meade intended 
an assault to be made on Cemetery Hill before the right flank of 
the attacking column had been secured and protected, together 
with the other fact that any such attempt, without securing and 
protecting the right hank, would have been the wildest of desper- 
ation, which he was desirous to bring out in his proposed Court of 
Inquiry. He also thought he could obtain a professional approval 
of his measures to these ends. 

" As to the imputation of a dilatory advance, he never thought 
that anybody who knew him would give it the slightest credence. 

"The story of confusion of the column could readily arise 
when troops used to lines formed at fifty yards interval or more, 
saw directly in front of them, at an interval of four or five yards 
only, the preceding lines ; but a confusion of troops, in fact, was 
impossible, if troops formed with intervals of only about twenty 
feet when standing up, and then laid down in line, could be, as 
Marshall's brigade was, moved out without mixing organizations, 
and nobody h:is ever charged this. If there had been any recoil 
the men in the rear lines would have been trampled on. This 
has never been asserted. Marshall's line moving at double quick 
by the flank, and about a hundred and fifty yards long, was fol- 
lowed at an interval of not over twenty yards by Robinson's of 
about the same length, and the right of the 14th New York Artil- 
lery was not over twenty-live yards from the left of Robinson. 
The right of Marshall's line had entered the enemy's works before 
the left of the 14th New York Artillery had cleared ours, and the 
right of Marshall's moved as soon after the explosion as the 
deliberate ami formal words necessary to advance the command 
could be spoken in a military manner." 

Another gentleman, who was an officer of high rank in the 
Ninth Corps, who commanded the 29th Massachusetts in this 

engagement and succeeded to the command of the First Brigade, 
Firs! Division, after the capture of (ieneral Barllett, and who was 

in a position to know what orders were issued for the movement 

of brigades, confirms whal Colonel Clarke has said in regard to 
the orders of General Ledlie, that the First Division was not to 



PETERSBURG MINE. 213 

advance beyond the crater. We quote his language upon the 
subject in a recent letter received from him : — 

" Henry Coppee, A.M., in his work entitled ' General Grant 
and his Campaigns,' writing of 'The Mine at Petersburg,' gives 
a detailed account of the mining operations, and after describ- 
ing the immediate effects of the explosion, says that Ledlie's 
division, which had been selected by lot to lead the assault, was 
' to charge through the crater and seize the rebel works on Ceme- 
tery Hill,' but that ' instead of complying with the order it halts 
in the crater.' These are plain statements, easily understood, 
and if true, reflect great discredit upon Ledlie's division. They 
are, however, untrue. Ledlie's division had no such orders. It 
was not a part of the plan of battle for that division to advance 
after reaching the crater. The orders issued to the division were 
distinctly not to advance. This is an important matter in connec- 
tion with the military history of those composing that division, 
both officers and men, and Coppee has done them an injustice in 
throwing nearly the whole odium of failure on them, by stating 
that they failed to obey orders and carry out the original plan, 
while the fact is that whatever was done, or not done, by other 
commands, this division executed its orders to the letter, that it 
led the assault and occupied the crater, and is entitled not to 
censure, but to praise. 

" Gen. Wm. F. Bartlett commanded one of the two brigades 
composing Ledlie's division. His brigade consisted of seven 
regiments. On the afternoon of July 29th the seven regimental 
commanders assembled at brigade headquarters, by direction of 
the General, and were there informed by him that the mine was to 
be fired the next morning ; that Ledlie's division had been se- 
lected by lot to lead the assault ; that the division was to move 
forward immediately after the explosion and occupy the enemy's 
front line of works ; that the division would be followed by a 
division of the same corps, also selected by lot, which would 
move beyond, ' over the heads ' of Ledlie's division, to be fol- 
lowed by the two remaining divisions of the corps. Very little 
was said at this meeting of regimental commanders with regard 
to minor details. All present saw exactly what was to be done. 



214 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



There was no misunderstanding. Ledlie's division was to cap- 
ture the front line. That was to be their part in the battle. It 
was plain, and moreover, it was reasonable and right. To expect 
them to immediately charge another line would have been unrea- 
sonable. It was fair to presume, and it was presumed, that the 
division which led the assault would be roughly handled by the 
enemy, and that if they succeeded in obeying their orders, and did 
secure and hold the front line, it would be done with considerable 
loss ; that the division would be badly cut up and exhausted 
and would not be in condition for further immediate aggressive 
action. However that may be, they were not to advance. Their 
orders left them there, in a position which they would strengthen 
b} r re-forming their line, and be in readiness to co-operate with 
those who were to move beyond. 

" Of the eight officers present at the meeting at brigade head- 
quarters above referred to, only one remained with the brigade 
after the final repulse by the enemy. General Bartlett was cap- 
tured, and all commanders of regiments and all field officers in 
the brigade, except one, were either killed, wounded or captured. 
Three regimental commanders were killed or died of wounds, and 
only two survived the war. 

" Another historian has said, in effect, that the assault failed 
because it was led by the poorest division in the army. This 
writer probably also thought that the division should have moved 
forward on Cemetery Hill, and that it failed to execute its orders. 
He could not have been familiar with the record of the brave men 
composing the division. 

" Let us look at this division so unjustly condemned. It con- 
sisted <>i' two brigades. The brigade commanded by (initial 
Bartletl Of .Massachusetts, whose reputation is well known, was 
composed of the following Massachusetts regiments, viz. : 21st, 
29th, 35th, ."><',th, .07th and 59th, also the 100th Pennsyl- 
vania. Tin' 21s1 was :m old regiment, fought in Burnside's 
earliesl campaign in North Carolina, and had followed the 

General's fortunes from the first. The 29th contained the oldest 

three veins' companies from New England, the oldest perhaps in 
the country. They were :it the battle of Big Bethel, had served 



PETERSBURG MINE. 215 

six months iu the Irish Brigade under McClellan, was one of the 
only two regiments in the whole army present at both the sieges 
of Richmond and Vicksburg. The 35th fought its first battle at 
South Mountain and Antietam, where it lost heavily, and had 
served constantly in the Ninth Corps since that time. The 
56th, 57th and 59th were Veteran Regiments, raised as such 
in the winter of 1864, under the personal supervision and care 
of Governor Andrew, and were officered by veterans. The writer 
is not familiar with the early history of the 100th Pennsylvania, 
but can say that it was an old regiment, and one of the very 
best fighting regiments in the army. The records of these regi- 
ments will more than sustain these statements. The other brigade 
of the division was composed of a less number of regiments, with 
whose history the writer is not entirely familiar, but knows of 
no reason why it should not compare favorably with the best ; 
one at least, the 3d Maryland, was an old regiment and a 
good one." 

This authority is beyond question. The statements made by 
these two officers are based upon personal knowledge, and not 
hearsay, and therefore entitled to consideration. Yet we follow 
with another authority upon the same, that of Lieut. -Col. W. H. 
Powell of the 11th U.S. Infantry, who, at that time, was an officer 
on General Ledlie's staff. I quote extracts from an article 
published by him in the fourth volume of " Battles and Leaders 
of the Civil War " : 

" After falling back into the crater a partial formation was 
made by General Bartlett and Colonel Marshall with some of their 
troops, but owing to the precipitous walls the men could find no 
footing except by facing inward, digging their heels into the 
earth, and throwing their backs against the side of the crater, or 
squatting in a half sitting, half standing posture, and some of 
the men were shot even there by the fire from the enemy in the 
traverses. 

" It was at this juncture that Colonel Marshall requested me 
to go to General Ledlie and explain the condition of affairs, which 
he knew that I had seen and knew perfectly well. This I did 
immediately Passing to the Union lines under this storm 



216 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

of canister, I found General Lecllie and a part of his staff 
ensconced in a protected angle of the works. I gave him Colonel 
Marshall's message, explained to him the situation, and Colonel 
Marshall's reasons for not moving forward. General Ledlie then 
directed me to return at once and say to Colonel Marshall and 
General Bartlett that it was General Burnside's order that they 
should move forward immediately. This message was delivered ; 
but the tiring on the crater now was incessant and it was as heavy 
a lire of canister as was ever poured continuously upon a single 
objective point. 

" It was :is utterly impracticable to re-form a brigade in that 
crater as it would be to marshal bees into line after upsetting the 
hive, and equally as impracticable to re-form outside of the crater, 
under the severe fire in front and rear, as it would be to held 
di'ess parade in front of a charging enemy. Here, then, was the 
second point of advantage lost, by the fact that there was no 
person present to change the programme to meet the circum- 
stances. 

•• Bad a prompt attack of the troops to the right and left of 
the ciatcr been made as soon as the leading brigade had passed 
into the crater, or even fifteen minutes afterward, clearing the 
trenches and diverting the fire of -the enemy, success would have 
been inevitable, and particularly would this have been the ease on 
the left of the crater, as the small fort immediately in front of 
the Fifth Corps was almost, if not entirely, abandoned for a while 
after the explosion of the mine, the men running away from it as 
if they feared that it was to l»e blown up also. 

"Whether General Ledlie informed General Burnside of the 
condition of affairs as reported by me, I do not know ; but I 
think it likely, as it was Q01 long after 1 had returned to the 
crater that a brigade of the Second Division (Potter's) under the 
command of Brig-( ren. S. (i. ( rriffin, advanced its skirmishers and 
followed them immediately, directing its course to the right of the 
crater. General Griffin's line, however, overlapped the crater on 

the left, where two or three of his regiments sought shelter in the 
crater. Those 0E the right passed over the trenches, hut Owing t<» 

the peculiar character of the enemy's works, which were not single. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 217 

but complex, and involuted and filled with pits, traverses and 
bomb-proofs, forming a labyrinth as difficult of passage as the 
crater itself, the brigade was broken up, and meeting the severe 
fire of canister, also fell back into the crater, which was then full 
to suffocation. Every organization melted away as soon as it 
entered this hole in the ground, into a mass of human beings 
clinging by toes and heels to the almost perpendicular sides. If 
a man was shot on the crest he fell and rolled to the bottom of 

the pit Orders were, however, being constantly sent to 

the three division commanders of the white troops to push the 
men forward as fast as could be done, and this was, in substance, 
about all the orders that were received by them during the day 
up to the time of the order for the withdrawal. 

"When General Wilcox came with the Third Division to 
support the First, he found the latter and three regiments of his 
own, together with the regiments of Potter's Second Division, 
which had gone in on the right, so completely filling up the crater 
that no more troops could be got in there, and he therefore ordered 
an attack with the remainder of his division on the works of the 
enemy to the left of the crater. This attack was successful, so 
far as to carry the intrenchments for about one hundred and fifty 
yards ; but they -were held only for a short time. Previous to this 
last movement, I had again left the crater and gone to General 
Ledlie, and had urged him to try to have something done on the 
right and left of the crater, saying that every man who got into 
the trenches to the right or left of it used them as a means of 
escape to the crater, and the enemy was re-occupying them as 
fast as our men left. All the satisfaction I received was an order 
to go back and tell the brigade commanders to get their men 
out and press forward to Cemetery Hill. This talk and these 
orders coming from a commander sitting in a bomb-proof inside 
the Union lines, was disgusting. I returned again to the crater 
and delivered the orders, which I knew beforehand could not 
possibly be obeyed ; and I told General Ledlie so before I left 
him. Upon my return to the crater I devoted my attention to 
the movements of the enemy, who was evidently making dis- 
positions for an assault. 



218 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

"About two hours after the explosion of the miue (seven 
o'clock), and after I had returned to the crater for the third time, 
Gen. Edward Ferrero, commanding the colored division of the 
Ninth Corps, received an order to advance his division, ' pass the 
white troops which had halted, and move on to carry the crest of 
Cemetery Hill at all hazards.' " 

It can readily be seen that where those in high authority aud 
supposed to know, differ so widely as to what the orders really 
were, or their understanding of them, those who were in the ranks 
could not be supposed to interpret or understand them, and could 
not execute conflicting orders. In such a case and under such 
conditions, confusion is the inevitable result. Where the respon- 
sibility rests for this serious misunderstanding we are unable 
to say. Descriptions given by different writers and from different 
standpoints cannot all be alike, as all could not see the same. 
We have written the details as we saw them with the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts and will let the writing stand as our story. 

The description given of the movements of brigades ami 
divisions has been compiled from copies of orders and reports and 
the careful study of authentic history. For one man to see all 
that was done by all the brigades and divisions that day would he 
impossible. 

We will not undertake the task of saying what orders were 
actually issued further than we have done already. The reader 
will find no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion, from the copies 
of orders we have quoted, that it was in the final plan, as adopted 
by Generals Meade and Burnside, that the First Division of the 
Ninth Corps was to advance directly through the crater to the 
heights of Cemetery Hill beyond. 

The valiant general commanding the First Division was 
charged with the execution of this plan, but became tangled in 
a greater confusion than the troops he commanded, in a safe 
bomb-proof in rear of our lines, where he was heroically struggling 

with some invisible enemy, who was evidently as difficull to 
manage as il would have been to marshal Colonel Powell's bees 

into line after he had upsel the hive. If his troops were •• w it hout 



PETERSBURG MINE. 219 

a responsible bead," he could truthfully say that he was in the 
same unfortunate situation. 

After receiving the letters heretofore quoted, we wrote to 
Gen. J. H. Barnes, stating the matter to him and asking his 
opinion as to the apparent confliction of orders. General Barnes 
was at the time lieutenant-colonel and commanded the 29th 
Massachusetts in this engagement, and was one of the two field 
officers of the First Brigade who came out of the crater. His 
statement is very clear and concise and seems to confirm the 
explanation that we have given, viz.: "That the confusion 
of orders originated in the confused condition of the division 
commanders." One thing appears evident; that is, that the 
officers and men who went into the crater with the First Division 
did not receive orders to move beyond and seize the crest known 
as Cemetery Hill until it was too late to execute them. This was 
confirmed by General Bartlett, as will appear in a letter which 
we append from W. H. Osborne, the able historian of the 29th 
Massachusetts. 

This appears to be the truth of history, as it has not appeared 
before and clears the men of the First Division of the Ninth Corps 
from the odium that has been passed upon them by such writers 
as Swinton, who never took the trouble to carefully study the 
subject from behind the scenes, a self-constituted critic of 
matters which he did not understand and apparently took no 
pains to obtain correct and reliable information. 

We quote General Barnes and W. H. Osborne as follows : — 

East Boston, Feb. 7th, 1895. 
Capt. John Anderson, 

U.S. Army. 
My Dear' Captain : I am in receipt of yours of January 30th, and 
note your reference to the orders of General Meade and General Burnside, 
which indicate that it was the intention that the First Division should 
continue to advance after reaching the crater. Snch being the case, an 
error was somewhere made in transmitting the order. My statements 
as to the orders received from the brigade commander on the afternoon 
preceding the battle stand for what they are worth. I cannot undertake 
to explain the matter, and prefer not to hazard any conjecture or criti- 
cism. You inform me that Colonel Clarke confirms my statement by 
saying that brigade commanders received orders "not to move beyond 



220 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

the crater." This is certainly strong confirmation. Observe that I 
stated that regimental commanders received such orders. Clarke, if I 
understood you correctly, goes further and says that brigade commanders 
received the orders. If I am not mistaken, Clarke was at the time 
adjutant-general on the staff of Colonel Marshall, commanding the 
Second Brigade. If so, this testimony is invaluable. Plainly, an error 
was made somewhere. I do not question that an attempt was made to 
advance the division som< Hun. after it reached the erater, when the con- 
dition of affairs was badly mixed. If I am correct in saying that regi- 
mental commanders had understood that they were not to advance, it was 
a difficult matter to altei things in the confusion that existed in the 
crater. 

Now, regarding Colonel Powell's statement and General Ledlie's 
order to advance, communicated through Powell, it is my impression, 
in which I may he wrong, that Powell went back and reported the con- 
dition of affairs, and was then directed to advance the division, this 
being the first lime that the division had been ordered to advance. If I 
am right, Powell didn'1 report that his division would not or could not 
advance leading to the inference that it had been previously ordered to 
do so. He went hack to explain the situation and stated the impossi- 
hilitv of any advance, and this was after troops, other than our 
division, occupied the crater. Then he received the order to advance 
our division Look carefully at the order which you quote as given to 
Powell, and see it" there is not some indication in it that the division had 
nol previously received orders to advance. If Powell meant to refer to 
his division solely, then, of course,.! am wrong as far as the Powell inci- 
dent is concerned, The historian of my regiment, the 29th, says (p. 316) : 
•' The other divisions, with the exception of the Fourth, followed, but 

they did noi advance beyond the lines of the First Division. Remaining 
in the crater, they added to the confusion, and Anally rendered any 
movement impossible." 

since von wrote me 1 have obtained from the historian of the 29th 
Massachusetts Regimenl a paper of greal value in connection with the 
matter at issue, which I take the liberty of enclosing herewith. By 
referring to pages 315 and 316 of the 29th's history, you will at once 
perceive from the enclosed document thai General Bartletl fully con- 
firms iin statement that we were "not to advance" after reaching tin' 

crater .... 

Boston. Feb. 2, L895. 
< ..n. Joseph ii. B irnes. 

Dear sir: The statemenl of a field officer of General Ledlie's 
Division, Ninth Corps, referred to on page 816 of the history of the 29th 
Regimenl of Massachusetts Volunteers, and quoted entire on pages 315 



PETERSBURG MINE. 221 

and 316 of that work, was referred to Gen. William F. Bartlett, who 
commanded the first brigade of that division at the time of the battle, 
for his inspection, and opinion touching its accuracy. After retaining 
the manuscript for several weeks, he returned it to me, with a letter, in 
Avhich he stated that he concurred in all the material statements con- 
tained in it, especially as to the plan of the movement and the orders 
given to the various brigade commanders. 

I am yours respectfully, 

W. H. OSBORNE, 
Historian of the 29th Mass. Regt. 

We have entered more fully into the details of this engage- 
ment than we otherwise would, for the reason that so much odium 
for the unfortunate failure has been cast upon the gallant men of 
the First Division, by which great injustice has been done them. 
It is our purpose to publish only the truth, which, we believe, 
will fully vindicate them from the aspersions that even many his- 
torians have been blindly led to cast upon them, even by implica- 
tion that their conduct was cowardly and dishonorable, which is 
the reverse of the actual truth. 

One fact seems settled beyond question, viz. : that General 
Meade's orders to General Burnside, and the latter's orders to his 
division commanders, were for the First Division to move beyond 
the crater and seize the crest known as Cemetery Hill. Whether 
it were possible to execute the order, or not, will always remain a 
question of speculation, but that the men of the First Division 
were guilty of "misbehavior" or would not go forward in 
obedience to orders, we emphatically deny. Early in the action 
we personally heard division and brigade staff officers communi- 
cating orders to " halt," later, and when it became impossible to 
advance, orders were heard to move " forward." 

Colonel Loring of General Burnside's staff reported during 
the engagement that Ledlie's division was in the crater, but 
" could not be got forward." He did not say that they refused 
to go forward, and did not say why they "could not be got 
forward." This was about an hour after the explosion of the 
mine. General Meade evidently did not understand the confused 
condition of affairs at that time existing in the mine, for he at 
once ordered General Burnside to " push with all his force to the 



222 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



crest." The confusion then was so great, and the obstacles that 
were presented so absolutely insurmountable, that it was wholly 
impossible to have obeyed the order, even if every man had been 
a General Grant, a General Meade, an Agamemnon or Achilles. 

General Grant says in his " Personal Memoirs " : " Ledlie's 
division marched into the crater immediately on the explosion, 
but most of them stopped there in the absence of an} 7 one to give 
directions, their commander having found some safe retreat to 
get into before they started." 

Generals Grant, Meade and Burnside all agree that the 
orders were for the First Division to push forward beyond the 
crater and seize Cemetery Hill. In reviewing the reports, made 
subsequent to the affair, as published in "Rebellion Records," we 
find that every division commander acted upon this basis. Re- 
ports of brigade commanders of the First Division are silent upon 
this point, but assume that they had accomplished their purpose in 
carrying the position of the crater. 

As General Ledlie, the commander of the First Division, has 
been severely censured for not carrying out his orders, it is only 
fair to hear what he had to say. In his report published in 
" Rebellion Records," he says (after describing the formations 
for the charge) : lt I then gave instructions to my brigade com- 
manders to the effect Hint when the order for the charge was 
given the column should move through the breach to be made by 
the mine and then to press forward and occupy the hill beyond, 
when the 35th were to be set at work throwing up intrenchments. 
At daylight everything was ready. The mine was sprung at 4.45 
a.m., and the fortifications in my front were utterly demolished. 
As soon as the debris, consequent upon the explosion, had fallen 
to the ground, I gave the order for the charge and my brigades 
mounted our breastworks and pushed forward gallantly over the 
slope leading to the enemy's line, taking possession of the demol- 
ished fori and occupying about one hundred yards of the enemy's 
rifle pits to the left (our right of it ) , capturing one stand of colors 
and about fifty prisoners. The division was here halted to re- 
form and hastily constructed traverses to shield the men from a 
terrible and incessant think lire, which at the same time afforded 



PETERSBURG MINE. 223 

our sharpshooters an excellent opportunity for picking off can- 
noneers from a battery that enfiladed the position and poured a 
destructive fire of canister and shrapnel into my line. At this 
time the enemy was holding the same line of iutrenchments with 
my own troops, starting from the point where the right of my 
division rested and extending thence to the left (our right) . It 
was impossible for my line to advance from this position as no 
troops had come up on my right to dislodge the enemy, and had I 
moved my line forward the enemy would, merely by filing to the 
right in the same trench, have occupied my position and poured a 
deadly tire into my rear. I reported this fact to one of the corps 
staff officers and soon after received peremptory orders to move 
my troops forward. I immediately gave the necessary orders, 
and the brigade commanders had barely got their men into 
proper position for a charge when the colored troops came run- 
ning into the crater, and filing through passed into the rifle pits to 
the left (our right) of the fort, where my troops now formed for 
the charge. 

" The colored troops then made a feeble attempt at a charge, 
but before they accomplished anything the enemy made a fierce 
attack and they retreated precipitately into the rifle pits, breaking 
my line and crowding the pits to such an extent that it was 
impossible to re-form my line. 

" The enemy, seeing the advantage gained by this attack, 
shortly afterwards made another, fiercer and more determined 
than the first, and owing to the crowded condition of the 
troops, a panic was created among the colored regiments and they 
broke and fled in disorder to the rear, pressing back with them a 
large portion of my line. Those remaining in the pits were then 
captured . . . ." 

It will be seen from this report that he had at some time 
understood that his order was to go forward to the crest. Com- 
menting upon it, through the light of personal observation, we 
are free to say that after passing through the crater with much 
difficulty, the lines had become considerably broken and it was 
necessary to halt and re-form them before advancing upon Ceme- 
tery Hill. However, that could have been accomplished before 



224 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



the enemy could have recovered from his surprise. As for 
exposing the flanks, where the enemy might gain our rear, that 
had already been provided for by the following divisions swinging 
to the right and left, which they could not do until the First 
Division had moved forward beyond the crater, so as not to be in 
the way. The fact was, the enemy was not there in force strong 
enough to make any flank attack and very little firing came from 
the flanks for some time, a time sufficient to have executed all the 
movements for the security of both flanks and rear. General 
Ledlie's orders were imperative and left him no discretion. He 
should therefore have been present in person, clothed in his right 
mind, re-formed his lines at once and charged the crest beyond, 
though it had cost him every man in the division ; leaving the 
part to be performed by others to those to whom the task had 
been assigned, instead of faltering for fear the}' would not do it. 
As General Ledlie was not present with his division, his report is 
based upon those made to him, what others saw and not he, and 
therefore loses most of its value as a reliable document. Wo 
only give it that his version of the affair may be considered for 
what it is deemed worth. 

In General Burnside's report he says: "At about G.30 a.m. 
orders were again sent to the division commanders not to halt at 
the works, but to advance at once to the crest without waiting for 
mutual support." 

In tin' general plan of attack the Ninth Corps was to be 
supported by the Fifth and Eighteenth, the latter to follow the 
Ninth when the way was clear, while the Fifth was to consolidate 
on their right, to the left of the Ninth Corps, and advance upon 
the enemy's main line in case it should he weakened to meet the 
assaull of tin' Ninth. During the operations the Fifth Corps 
made no attempt to advance, its commander reporting that the 
rebel works in his front were still held by a strong force. He 
docs not say upon what information this report was hased. 
Those who were in the crater and in position where they could 
Bee, have stated that the Confederate front line for some distance 

to the right and left was for a time almost entirely abandoned. 




G. W. TOURTELLOT, 

Sergeant Co. H, 57th Mass. 



PETERSBURG MINE. 225 

These statements have since been confirmed by Confederate 
reports. 

An advance along the whole line, at this time, to the right 
and left of the crater, could probably have been made as easily 
as it was the following April. At least a demonstration by the 
troops which were held in reserve would have relieved the terrible 
pressure which was bearing with deadly effect upon the Ninth 
Corps in the crater; we mean a direct assault upon the enemy's 
intrenched line and not by way of the crater. This would have 
given the troops of the Ninth Corps an opportunity for re-forming 
and moving forward to Cemetery Hill. 

One brigade of the Eighteenth Corps did get in when it became 
too late to accomplish anything, but as General Meade reported, 
was carried back by the "disorganized Fourth Division of the 
Ninth Corps." In the report above referred to (see "Rebellion 
Records ") General Meade adds : "It will be seen to be the con- 
current testimony of all parties that the failure of success was in 
a great measure due to the injudicious advance of the colored 
division into the overcrowded crater and adjacent parts of the 
enemy's line, and to the confusion produced by their retiring a 
disordered and disorganized mass after attempting an assault." 

On the 24th of July, six days preceding this affair, General 
Meade called upon his chief engineer (Major Uuane) for his 
opinion as to the expediency of an assault after the explosion of 
the mine. The latter replied (same date) : " I have the honor to 
state that the line of the enemy's works in front of General 
Burnside is not situated on the crest of the ridge separating us 
from Petersburg ; that the enemy have undoubtedly occupied this 
ridge as a second line. Should General Burnside succeed in 
exploding his mine he would probably be able to take the enemy's 
first line, which is about one hundred yards in advance of his 
approach. Beyond this I do not think he could advance until the 
works in front of the Fifth Corps are carried, as the Ninth Corps 
columns would be taken in Hank by a heavy artillery fire from 
works in front of the centre of the Fifth Corps and in front by 
fire from the works on the crest near the Cemetery Hill. I do 
not believe that the works in front of the Fifth Corps can be 



15 



226 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



carried until our lines can be extended to the left, so as to 
envelop the enemy's line." 

The Court of Inquiry which was ordered to inquire into the 
cause of failure severely censured the Ninth Corps Commander 
(General Burnside) and every division commander of the Ninth 
Corps, except General Potter, but was entirely silent upon the 
inaction of the commander of the Fifth Corps. 

While General Burnside requested an investigation of the 
matter, he objected to the court, as constituted, and addressed 
a letter to that effect to the Secretary of War, in which he said : 
"Whilst I have the greatest respect for the officers composing 
the court ordered by Special Orders War Department, No. 258, 
to examine into the affair of the 30th instant (ultimo) I beg to 
submit that it should be composed of officers who do not belong 
to this army. Whilst I am most willing and feel it my due to 
have the fullest investigation, I should not, under the circum- 
stances, demand one, nor seek to press the mutter to an issue in 
any degree adverse to the general commanding the Army of the 
Potomac. I am ready to await the verdict of time. But, if an 
investigation is to be had, I feel that I have a right to ask that it 
be made by officers not in this army, and not selected by General 
Meade. All of the officers constituting the court held command 
in the supporting columns which were not brought into action that 
day. Tin' judge advocate is a member of General Meade's staff. 
Genera] Meade has also preferred charges against me upon which 
I desire to be tried. As the court convenes on Monday, the 8th 
instant. I respectfully request an answer may be returned as soon 
as possible." 

Tins request was not granted, and the court, as originally con- 
stituted, was convened. Its findings have not been full}' justified 
by the verdict of time, or the Congressional Committee. Our 
gallant brigade commander, Genera] Bartlett, received qo censure, 

and as he alwavs spoke in the highest praise of the conduct of 
the brigade, we are unable to see any truth or justice in the slurs 
and criticisms that have been cast upon the men of the First 
Division of the Ninth Corps. With all that has been said to their 
discredit, not a single incident of cowardice has ever been cited, 



PETERSBURG MINE. 227 

and no one has ventured to say what, under the circumstances, 
for which they were not responsible, they should have done. 

General Barnes, who succeeded General Bartlett in command 
of the brigade, after the latter had been captured, speaks in praise 
of Capt. George H. Howe, of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, 
who "was killed while standing on the enemy's works and en- 
couraging the men." 



CHAPTER X. 




WELDON RAILROAD. 

CCORDING to the Returns of the Army of the Po- 
tomac on the 20th of Jul} 7 , 1864 (prior to the crater 
engagement), its effective force of infantry, enlisted 
men present for duty equipped, was 37,984; its 
effective force of cavalry, 10,280. The effective 
force of infantry of the Army of the James on the 
31st of July was 24,009 ; of its cavalry 1,880. 
"The effective force of the Army of Northern Virginia on 
the 10th of July (Confederate), was 39,295; of its cavalry, 
8,436. The Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac and the 
Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia were detached and 
not included in these returns. Johnson's and Hoke's divisions 
are included in the streugth of the Army of Northern Virginia." 
The above is taken from "The Virginia Campaign of 1864 
and 1865," by Gen. A. A. Humphreys, page 265. 

After the disastrous affair at the crater, the remnant of the 
regiment, numbering less than fifty men for duty, under command 
of Lieut. Albert Doty, resumed the old routine in the trenches 
and was assigned to the Third Brigade of the First Division, 
commanded by General White. Col. Joseph H. Barnes of the 
29th Massachusetts was assigned to the command of the brigade. 
The men felt a satisfaction in knowing that the division com- 
mander was an officer of acknowledged ability and one upon whom 
they could reby, while Colonel Barnes was a gallant officer who 
had been conspicuous for his bravery upon many former occasions, 
a man of tireless energy and dash, in every respect a fine soldier. 
General Burnside was granted leave of absence August 13th, 
and immediately took his departure from the army, much to the 



230 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



regret of all the officers and men under his command, who held 
him in great esteem and affection. His kind consideration of 
them, during all the trying scenes through which the Ninth Corps 
had passed, had won for him the enduring affection of all. Know- 
ing that he felt more deeply than anyone else the mortification of 
the dark crater disaster, the men felt that he, as well as they, 
bad been made the victim of a combination of unfortunate circum- 
stances, and their hearts clung to him all the stronger. There 
never was a time when his name would arouse more enthusiasm in 
the Ninth Corps than when he was taking leave of it. Men in 
the ranks may be entirely ignorant of the plans and purposes of 
those in high command, but they are not slow, and seldom err, 
to perceive where the responsibility rests for failure or success. 
This was not an exceptional instance, and their judgment did not 
fix the entire responsibility of this failure upon General Burnside. 
He was succeeded by Gen. John G. Parke. General Ledlie's 
leave-taking was not so much to be regretted. It rather seemed 
that he was a little out of place as a general, though he would 
doubtless have proved a success in running a hotel. His removal 
from command was a heavy loss to the enemy. 

The brigade was given no time for rest or recuperation. One 
day it would be in the rifle pits at the front, and the next doing 
fatigue duty in rear, and constantly exposed to the fire of the 
enemy, both day and night, losing one man, Private AVesley D. 
Goddard of Co. F, mortally wounded (died Aug. 18th, 1864), 
and four men wounded, viz. : Privates Patrick Delaney and 
William Neville of Co. A, George W. Kinney, Co. 1. and Henry 
H. Perry of Co. K (died of wounds April 9th, 1865). 

During the night of August 14 th, the Ninth Corps was re- 
lieved by the Eighteenth and marched off to the left, where it 

relieved the Fifth Corps, while the latter moved towards the 
Weldon Railroad. Here the regiment, with the rest of the brig- 
ade, was placed on the skirmish line, in an exposed position, 

without defensive works of any kind. On the l'.Uh it was moved 
still farther to the left, in order to connect with the Fifth Corps. 
While on the march through a drenching rainstorm, it was 

furiously attacked by the enemy, who approached from a piece of 



WELDOX RAILROAD. 231 

woods and assailed the right flank. For a time our troops were 
staggered and a serious disaster was threatened. The attack was 
made by the Confederate troops under Gen. A. P. Hill, Mahone's 
division being directed upon the command of General Wilcox. 
The fighting at this point was very spirited, but our troops suc- 
ceeded in holding the lines against repeated charges ; the 
Fifty-Seventh again lost heavily. The regiment went into action 
with forty-five enlisted men under command of 1st Lieut. Albert 
Doty and lost one enlisted man killed, Private Uriah Barrett of 
Co. A, and Corp. George W. Willard of Co. H, who died of 
wounds Sept. 18th, 1864, making the loss two killed, seven 
wounded and seven missing as follows : — 

WOUNDED. 

A. Beclreaux, Pvt. Co. A Edmund Pine, Pvt. Co. F 

Daniel Flynn, " " Dennis Lee, " Co. G 

Henry C. Flagg, Sergt. Co. B (Died of wounds Sept. 7th, 1864.) 

Charles A. Bates, Pvt. Co D Guilford P. Heath, Pvt. Co. K 

MISSING. 

Joseph E. Sweetser, Pvt. Co. A Merwin Rowe, Pvt. Co. C 

(Died of wounds Oct. 30th, 1864, Charles Rathburue, " Co. D 

at Salisbury, N.C.) John Shea, " " 

Charles E. Culver, Pvt. Co. B Joseph H. Beckwith, " Co. I 
Joseph Benois, " Co. C 

Making a total of sixteen. The regiment had now become 
reduced to one officer and less than one-third of a company. 

The timely arrival of the Ninth Corps saved the Fifth from 
defeat. The corps captured about two hundred prisoners and a 
stand of colors, held and strengthened the line which had been 
captured and which, after that, became a part of the main line of 
Federal works on the left. The Ninth Corps was now posted, 
with the division of General Wilcox on the right, from the Fifth 
Corps on the Weldon Railroad to the left of the Second Corps 
on the Jerusalem plank road, and remained in this position until 
the 21st, when the enemy resumed the attack with great vigor, 
repeatedly charging our line of breastworks, in order to regain 
possession of that part of the Weldon Railroad, which had been 
captured by our troops, but each charge was repulsed with great 



232 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

loss to the assailants. The Federal loss was also considerable,, 
amounting to about three thousand in killed, wounded and missing. 
The Fifth Corps lost heavily in missing. 

The great object of contention was now the Petersburg and 
Weldon Railroad, running nearly due south from Petersburg, and 
which was one of the main arteries of supply for the Confederate 
troops in and around Petersburg. With this in possession of the 
Federals, they had only the South Side Railroad, running in a 
southwesterly direction and connecting with the Richmond and 
Danville Railroad at Burke's Station, which was also the junction 
of the railroad from Richmond to Lynchburg, due west from 
Petersburg. The South Side road would be their main source of 
supply, although they held undisputed possession of the railroad 
from Petersburg to Richmond. The possession of the small 
portion of the Weldon Railroad held by the Federal troops would 
not prevent the Confederates from using it, as a Hue of supply, up 
to a point where freight could be hauled by wagons to Petersburg. 
The object of the Federal commander was to gain possession of, 
or destroy,. about ten or twelve miles more of it, to the south, as 
far as Rowanty Creek. This would necessitate the hauling of 
Confederate supplies around by Dinwiddie Court House and 
Boyd to n plank road to Petersburg, thus rendering the Weldon 
Railroad of little practical use as a source of supply to the 
Confederate army. 

The Federal movement to gain this object was anticipated 
by the Confederates, who, fully realizing its importance, took 
steps to prevent it, General Lee sending most of A. P. Hill's 
corps, with one brigade of Longstreet's and two divisions of 
General Wade Hampton's cavalry, to gain possession of the 

disputed road. These movements brought on the engagement at 
Ream's Station, a point on the above mentioned road, just north 
Of Rowanty Creek. The Second Corps had been moved around 

to the left iii the vicinity of Ream's Station, where it was attacked 

On the 25th by the troops under Gen. A. P. Hill, who gained a 

decided advantage, the loss of the Second Corps being nearly 
twenty-five hundred, with the loss of several stands of colors. 
A.s the Fifty-Seventh did not actively participate in this engage- 



WELDON RAILROAD. 233 

ment we will not attempt a description of it. The heavy losses 
which had fallen upon the First Division of the Ninth Corps had 
so reduced it as to make a reorganization of the corps necessary. 
In Woodbury's "History of the Ninth Army Corps" he speaks 
of the First Division as follows : "They had borne an honorable 
part in every action since the opening of the campaign, and had 
left on every battlefield the evidences of their heroic self-sacrifice. 
It now became necessary to merge the troops of the First Divi- 
sion with those of the Second and Third. The troops were 
divided, but the name was retained. General White was relieved 
and General Wilcox placed in command of the First Division and 
General Potter in command of the Second, as thus compacted." 
In this consolidation and transfer (Sept. 1st, 1864), the 29th, 
57th and 59th Massachusetts, 3d Maryland, 100th Pennsylvania 
and 14th New York Heavy Artillery composed the Third Brigade, 
First Division of the Ninth Army Corps. 

On the 25th of August the regiment was moved about half a 
mile to the right and constructed a strong line of earthworks, 
where it remained doing picket duty until September 29th. Dur- 
ing this time some of the officers and men who had been absent, 
sick and wounded returned to the regiment for duty, so that it 
numbered about sixty men. On September 3d, Lieut-Col. J. M. 
Tucker, though not having entirely recovered from the wound he 
received on the 17th of June, joined and took command of the 
regiment. 

On the 14th of September, N. B. McLaughlen was mustered 
into the United States service as colonel of the Fifty-Seventh, per 
special orders from the War Department, with rank from Dec. 
17th, 1862. He immediately assumed command of the brigade 
by virtue of seniority of his commission. Colonel McLaughlen at 
this time held a commission as captain in the Fourth Regular 
Cavalry. He had previously held the position of colonel of the 
old 1st Massachusetts Infantry, and was an officer of wide ex- 
perience, brave and cool in action, firm in discipline, efficient in 
command and ambitious to win the glittering star, but, as it only 
came by brevet, it never shone in full radiance upon his shoulders. 

Before closing the chapter on the Weldon Railroad, we take 
pleasure in publishing a portion of a very interesting article from 



234 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

the pen of Whitman V. White, M.D., published in the January 
(1895) number of the magazine entitled "Blue and Gray." 
Doctor White was surgeon of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts at 
the time. I omit the part relating to other regiments. 

" The division was under the command of Brigadier-General 
White and the brigade was under the command of Colonel Barnes. 
The command reached an open field just in season to check a 
well-meant flank movement of the enemy 

" In all my service with the Army of the Potomac as medical 
officer at division headquarters, I was really under fire but a few 
times. This was one of the occasions, consequently the events 
of that day were burned into my soul and can never be forgotten. 
If I had time to write the history of the regiment of which I was 
commissioned surgeon by Governor Andrew of Massachusetts 
(Fifty-Seventh), of its almost complete annihilation in the battles 
from the Wilderness to the Weldon Railroad, every man of which 
was my personal friend, one could appreciate the sentiment which 
prompted me, on the afternoon of the 18th of August, to go and see 
the few that were left in the trenches on the right of the line in front 
of Petersburg.* Our casualties embraced the killing or wounding 
of every field and line officer except two. The regiment was in 
command of a 1st lieutenant, the line quiet and the evening balmy. 
Gen. Julius White was temporarily in command of the division, 
which was three miles from where I had located the division hospital. 
The General invited me to remain with him until morning, and 
supplied me with a blanket on which 1 hud down upon the veranda 
of the house which was occupied by the officers. At three a.m. 
I was awakened by the long roll. An aide from corps head- 
quarters brought an order for the division to move immediately 
for the Weldon Railroad, about eight miles distant, to the support 
of :i division of the Fifth Corps that had Keen attacked the day 

before and repulsed. Instead of going hack to the hospital I 

sent my orderly to order the ambulance train and medical staff to 

follow on. As the skeleton of my regiment passed the place 

where General White and I were standing, a young private said 

tome: 'Doctor, I have no musket; may I go to the rear?' I 



•I'lii- relates to the cniter, .Inly . '."t li. — J. A. 



WELDON RAILROAD. 235 

said to him : ' Go with us, my boy, we will take care of you.' 
On the march I saw him trudging along. The morning was 
bright and clear. We followed an aide from the Fifth Corps and 
an occasional shot in the distance told us that we were Hearing 
the Confederate lines. I was riding with General White and his 
staff as we entered a cornfield, not one of us suspecting that we 
were near the line of action, when from a piece of wood, which 
skirted the field, we received a volley of musketry on our right 
flank. The worn-out little private who had asked to go to the 
rear when we started, lay dead with a bullet hole through his 
forehead. When I saw his lifeless form, as he lay between the 
rows of corn, I reproached myself for not allowing him to go to 
the rear. 

" In a moment a line of battle was formed. We were isolated. 
From the firing which then became general along the whole line, 
General White learned the direction of the Fifth Corps line of 
battle. Captain Snow of his staff said he would try and find the 
left of Warren's line. I immediately took possession of a house 
under the hill and established a field hospital. An aide from the 
Second Brigade staff reported to me, saying he was not well and 
asked to remain with me at the field hospital. He was constitu- 
tionally a coward and could not help it; otherwise he was a 
magnificent fellow, a social chum of Captain Snow. As soon as 
the ambulances reported they were sent in the direction of the 
firing, returning shortly filled with the wounded, some of whom 
had lain on the ground all night. It was not long before word 
was brought me that Captain Snow was badly wounded, and he 
was removed to the division hospital far in our rear. The Captain 
had found Warren's left, and when returning, went through a 
terrific fire. He lay on his horse's neck and rode fast and furious, 
but, in this position, a bullet entered the top of his shoulder, and 
passing downward and outward, cut the spinal cord below his 
arms, thus paralyzing him, with the exception of his arms. When 
the lieutenant, to whom I have referred, pushed aside the tent fly 
and saw his bosom companion lying there helpless, his emotions 
overcame him, and he turned quickly and looked out of the tent. 
Observing this, the dying soldier said : ' Never mind, lieutenant, 
this is the fortune of war. I have been in twenty-four battles 



236 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

and thought I should live to get home, but I have met the fate of 
a soldier.' .... 

"The house and the yard where I had established the 
temporary field hospital were soon filled with wounded from the 

Fifth Corps, our division and some Confederates I 

made no distinction among the wounded so far as personal com- 
fort was concerned, but attended to operations for our own men 
first, if there were no immediate necessity of doing otherwise. 
Among the Confederates wounded was an Irishman with a broad 
brogue. His right limb was shattered below the knee, he had a 
wound through the thigh and a flesh wound in the abdominal wall. 
This Irishman, I think, was from a Louisiana regiment. He was 
made comfortable while he waited for me to amputate his leg. 
As he lay upon an improvised bed, I went to him and said : ' Pat. 
I didn't expect to find you fighting against the old green flag.' 
His reply was : ' Shure, they made me think it was for the old 
green flag I was fighting. I have been in the South for eleven 
years.' I told him we were going to do for him just as we did 
for our own men and his leg must come off. He said he knew it 
and wanted the job done. In a playful way I said to him: 'You 
will not be able to march with a wooden leg, but you can ride a 
horse, so if you get well, you can join the cavalry.' Hi* reply 
was: 'A divil a step will I go.' I asked him if the Confederates 
did not owe hini pay. He said, ' Yes, eleven months." 'You'll 
go back for that?' I questioned. 'Not much,' was the reply; 
' it would take a month's pay to get a good dinner in Richmond. 
You might as well have the laves off the bushes.' 

" Among the wounded of the Fifth Corps that made an attack 
on the 1 8th was Lieutenant McKibbin, of Genera] Hay's staff. 
When I came t<> him, as an expression of his gratitude he took a 
stud from his shirt bosom, on which was marked his initials and 
regiment, and asked me to keep it as;i token from him. About 
noon the rain came down in torrents. There were no loads or 

fences :i> landmarks, and getting aboutf, excepl on foot or horse- 
hack, was difficult. The scenes we parsed through that day. the 
discomforts of the situation and the continual loss of 30 man\, 

men and officers, have left their lasting impression." 



CHAPTER XI. 




POPLAR GROVE CHURCH. 

'LL quiet along the Appomattox," was the condition of 
affairs during most of the month of September, 
18G4. The regiment took its place in the trenches 
and did not engage in active operations until near 
the end of the mouth, and the men were allowed a 
little rest. This, however, was only "the calm that 
precedes the storm." General Grant was again form- 
ulating his plans for further " hammering," and his attention was 
still directed towards the Confederate right flank. His aim was 
now, not only to secure a firmer grasp of the foothold gained on 
the Weldon Railroad, but to extend the left flank further to the 
west to gain possession of the South Side Railroad heretofore 
mentioned This successfully accomplished would leave the 
Confederates in possession of only one railroad, that running 
north to Richmond. It was known that the Confederates would 
not relinquish the South Side road without the most desperate 
fighting ; that every step of the way would be stubbornly disputed. 
On the 28th of September, the First and Second Divisions 
of the Ninth Corps were massed in preparation for the contem- 
plated advance, and on the 30th the movement commenced. It 
was a continuation of the old story, "swinging around to the 
left," to crush the Confederate right. The Ninth Corps was to 
co-operate with the Fifth, the first objective point being to gain 
possession of the intersection of two wagon roads of considerable 
importance, known as the Poplar Spring and Squirrel Level roads. 
This was at Peeble's farm, about two miles beyond and to the 
west of the Weldon Railroad. From there the movement was to 
be further continued toward the Boydton road and the South Side 
Railroad ; pushed, in fact, as far as possible. The enemy was 
strongly posted on a ridge of hills near Peeble's farm. General 



238 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Griffin's division of the Fifth Corps made a gallant charge over 
six hundred yards of open ground, carrying the enemy's position 
and capturing one gun and a small number of prisoners. The 
enemy retired to another intrenched position about half a mile in 
rear of the first. The Ninth Corps moved up promptly to the 
support of the Fifth. The two divisions, First and Second, moved 
through the Pegram farm towards the Boydton road. The Second 
Brigade of the Second Division moved forward to the attack, but 
was met by a superior force, which broke the line between the 
two corps (Fifth and Ninth), throwing it into considerable con- 
fusion. This disaster fell mostly upon the Second Division of 
the Ninth Corps, General Potter's. The First Division, General 
AVilcox, moved promptly forward in support and aided General 
Potter in establishing his line again. The First Division of the 
Fifth Corps was hurried up to this point, made an attack and 
succeeded in checking the further advance of the enemy. 

Night coming on terminated the engagement for that day 
(Sept. 30th, 1864) and the Ninth Corps proceeded to occupy the 
captured works at Peeble's farm, its right connecting with the 
left of the Fifth. The position thus gained was at once intrenched. 
This carried our intrenched lines about three miles beyond the 
Weldon Railroad. 

In describing the movements of the several brigades ami 
divisions of the Ninth Corps, the reader must constantly bear in 
mind that the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, at this time, belonged 
to the Third Brigade of the First Division, General Wilcox. The 
casualties on the Federal side in this affair amounted to something 
over two thousand, of which over half were prisoners. The loss 
of the Confederates is unknown. The Fifty-Seventh again came 
in for its share and lost one man killed, with seven wounded, as 
follows : — 

KILLED. 
Lyman Broad, Pvt. Co. A 

WOUNDED. 

Franklin W. Card, Sergt. Co. D Carlos A. Parker, Pvt. Co. G 

Patrick Flynn, Pvt. " George H. Wellman, " Co. II 

John Hennessey, " •'<>. F. John F. Wellman, " " 

Frederick W. Parks, " " 



POPLAR GROVE CHURCH. 239 

While these demonstrations were being made the enemy was 
strengthening his works and had extended his right as far as 
Hatcher's Run beyond and to the west of the Boydton plank road, 
and was in position to check any move that might be made against 
the South Side road. 

The Ninth Corps remained in position until October 2d, 
when, in connection with the Second Corps, it made a reconnois- 
sance towards the Boydton road, where the enemy was found in 
force, strongly intrenched, and no attack was made. 

Nothing of importance took place between the two armies 
from this time to October 8th. The Federal commander was, in 
the meantime, waiting for a favorable time and opportunity for 
striking a decisive blow, while the Confederate commander was 
making dispositions to successfully parry it. 

The morale of the Army of the Potomac at this time was not 
what it had been at the beginning of the campaign. The flower 
of the old army had been gradually diminishing and the numbers 
made partially good by drafted men and "bounty-jumpers," men 
who would shirk every dangerous duty and would not go into 
battle unless driven. It was the complaint of most of the corps 
and division commanders that these men could not be relied upon. 
They could not take the same risks with them that they would 
with tried veterans. Yet there were enough of the old soldiers 
present to hold these men in line, even if they were of very little 
use there. Such men seldom fall in battle; their fighting is 
mostly done at home after the battle is over; war takes the 
best and bravest. If the men whose bones were resting beneath the 
blood-stained soil of Virginia could have been again marshalled in 
line, just those alone who had fallen in this campaign, the Con- 
federate right would soon have been shattered. Whether the 
results obtained fully compensated for all this slaughter, will 
always remain a disputed question. 

October 8th, the Fifty-Seventh was again brought into action 
under command of the brave Major Doherty, who had just joined 
again for duty, having been absent on account of a severe wound 
received at Petersburg on the 17th of June. The following report 
of this affair, copied from the Report of the Adjutant-General, 



240 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



State of Massachusetts, for the year 1864, gives a very brief and 
concise account of the part performed by the regiment : — 

"The First Division, Ninth Army Corps, being ordered to 
make a reconnoissance in force, moved from its camp in a 
direction to the left of the Pegram House.* Arriving at the 
picket line, the Fifty- Seventh, under command of Major James 
Doherty, was deployed as skirmishers, covering the front of the 
Third Brigade. An advance of half a mile brought in view the 
cavalry videttes of the enemy, posted in the edge of the woods, 
in rear of a deserted line of works. The line continued its 
advance, driving the pickets through the timber and across a field 
into a forest beyond, at which time the left of the Fifty-Seventh 
became detached from the skirmishers of the First Brigade of the 
First Division, in consequence of that brigade having obliqued to 
the left. Whereupon the enemy, perceiving his advantage, at 
once threw a strong force against the exposed flank, necessitating 
a change of front, which was executed in an orderly manner, 
despite the rapid and destructive tire from the advancing line. A 
new position was taken up some three hundred yards in rear of 
the old, one wing of the regiment occupying a farm house and its 
outbuildings, and the other resting in the edge of the timber. 
This position was maintained until night, when orders were re- 
ceived to return to camp." 

The casualties of this affair were : — 

KILLED. 

George Jameson, Pvt. Co. — 
George W. Shaw, Pvt. Co. — 

WOUNDED. 

Harris C. Warren, Pvt. Co. I? Romanzo Stevens, Pvt Co I 

Benjamin L. Leonard, •• " William K. .Moore, •« •« 

William II. Prouty, Corp. Co. C George Gavin, '• " 

John Love, Pvl " Frank II. Lowell. Corp. Co. K 

Alf red M. Allen, Corp. Co. G Edwin Pratt, " 

William McDaniels, Pvt. Co. I John Adams, Pvt. 

The total loss of the First Division in this affair was three killed 
and thirteen wounded, all bul two being in the Fifty-Seventh. 



• i in- u;in situated ,,,.,,, Batcher's itun between the \ aughn and squirrel Level 
roads J, \. 



POPLAR GROVE CHURCH. 241 

The troops now went to work to strengthen the position they 
had gained along the Weldon Railroad and beyond, to within 
three miles of the South Side Railroad and about one-half from 
the Boydton plank road. Beyond this, and along Hatcher's Run, 
the enemy had constructed strong fortifications, which were 
defended by a heavy force. Frequent reconnoissances were made 
in that direction, but the position and strength of the enemy were 
found too strong for direct assault, hence General Grant deter- 
mined to bring a sufficient force to attack the enemy here, with 
the ultimate object of gaining possession of the South Side Rail- 
road. This would have been the crowning event with which to 
close the summer's campaign, and would have rendered the position 
of the Confederate army in Petersburg untenable for any length 
of time, resulting, most likely, to their withdrawal within the 
defences of Richmond. 

In pursuance of this plan the Federal commander gave orders 
for a combined movement by the Second, Fifth and Ninth Corps, 
with several batteries of light artillery and General Gregg's 
division of cavalry. The movement commenced October 27th. 
The Ninth Corps occupied the extreme left of the line. The 
Second Corps was to move around its left with the division of 
cavalry still farther to the left. General Grant's instructions to 
General Meade were as follows: "Make your preparations to 
march out at an early hour on the 27th to gain possession of 
the South Side Railroad, to hold it, and fortify back to your 
present left. In commencing your advance, move in three 
columns, exactly as proposed by yourself in our conversation of 
last evening, and with the same force you proposed to take. 
Parke (Ninth Corps), who starts out nearest to the enemy, should 
be instructed that, if he finds the enemy intrenched, and their 
works well manned, he is not to attack, but confront him and be 
prepared to advance promptly when he finds that by the movement 
of the other two columns to the right and rear of them, they 
begin to give way." 

The Ninth Corps moved down the Squirrel Level road, the 
First Division in advance, with the hope of surprising the enemy 
in his intrenchments near Hatcher's Run. It was thought that 



16 



242 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



they were not yet complete and not strongly manned. The Fifth 
Corps was to follow up the movement in support of the Ninth. 
If the latter met with success, the Fifth was to move to its left to 
operate upon the enemy's right, but, in case of failure, the Ninth 
Corps was to hold the enemy in check, while the Fifth was to 
cross Hatcher's Run, and endeavor to turn the enemy's right at 
Burgess Mill on the Boydton plank road. The Second Corps 
marched by the Vaughn road, forded Hatcher's Run, and captured 
some guns and a few prisoners. It is not our design, neither will 
space permit our giving a detailed description of all these move- 
ments ; suffice it to say that everything worked in harmony, but 
the movement commenced before daylight and the morning was 
dark and rainy, the troops had to move over narrow cross-roads, 
through dense woods, where felled timber and other obstacles 
retarded the advance. The Ninth and Fifth Corps drove in the 
enemy's pickets and continued a heavy skirmishing. The Second 
Corps attacked further to the left, captured several guns and 
prisoners. Its movements, being necessarily slow, gave the 
enemy time to concentrate a large force to meet it. Becoming 
separated, in the heavy woods and swamps, from the Fifth Corps, 
the enemy made an attack upon its right and even gained the rear 
of tlu' light, capturing some guns, but, by a skillful movement, 
the front was changed and after considerable hard fighting, the 
enemy was repulsed with the loss of several guns, prisoners and 
colors. The fighting fell mostly upon the Second Corps, which 
showed that its old spirit was not yet extinct in spite of drafted 
nun and ik bounty- jumpers." Its loss in killed, wounded and 
missing was about sixteen hundred. That of the Fifth was less 
than three hundred. The loss of the Ninth was small. The 
Fifty-Seventh lost but one man, Corp. William Worthy, Co. G, 
wounded. The loss of the enemy is not known, but supposed to 
he fully equal t<> ours. 

The position of the enemy was found everywhere too strong 
to be carried by assault. Even if driven from one line of in- 
treiielnnents. it would he at a heavy loss, and then he had others 

directly in rear into which he could fall hack. The thickly 
wooded country rendered it easy to construct defensive works in 



POPLAR GROVE CHURCH. 243 

a very short time. The nearest point reached to the South Side 
Railroad was about six miles, every rod of which would have to 
be gained by repeated charges over strougly defended lines of 
breastworks. The good judgment and discretion of the Federal 
commander prevailed and further offensive movements, in that 
direction, suspended. The morning of the 28th found the two 
armies occupying relatively the same positions. The Federal 
troops were finally withdrawn to our former lines. 

The several engagements described in this chapter have all 
been given under the head of Poplar Grove Church. They are 
mentioned in the Adjutant-General's Report of Massachusetts, 
1864, as "-Poplar Grove Church, Va., September 30th; Poplar 
Grove Church 2d, October 8th, and Poplar Grove Church 3d, 
October 28th." The above includes Pegram's farm, etc. 

This closed active operations as far as the Fifty-Seventh was 
concerned, and early in December the regiment moved back to 
the trenches in front of Petersburg, and commenced building v^/ 
winter quarters near the ground over which it had charged on the 
night of the 17th of June. This gave assurance of a winter of 
comparative rest and the men went to work with hearty good will, 
erecting huts of rough, unhewn logs, the interstices being filled 
with mud. Bunks were constructed inside, of green branches, 
barrel staves or cracker boxes. Chimneys were built on the out- 
side, of alternate layers of sticks and clay, the tops were often 
crowned with old barrels. The roofs were covered with old 
canvas or pieces of shelter tents. Many were constructed quite 
ingeniously, with floors of old scraps of boards or boxes. These 
huts were generally made to hold four men or more and were 
quite comfortable ; in fact, they were looked upon as palatial, 
after the long exposure to heat and cold and storms, with no 
sheltering roofs or other protection, save a small piece of canvas, 
about three feet by five to a man, and not always that. Tables 
and chairs were improvised, pictures from illustrated papers and 
photographs of friends were pasted upon the inner walls, so as to 
present quite a cheerful and artistic appearance. These huts 
were constructed just in rear of the line of intrenchments, which 
had to be constantly guarded night and day, besides the usual 



244 



EIKTY-SKVENTIl REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



picket duty. Very little comfort could be derived from this. 
It was the same old routine of groups of three or four men iu a 
hole, with only such temporary shelter from the winter's storms 
as could be improvised from a blanket or small piece of canvas. 

As winter approached there was less firing along the line of 
pickets ; both sides suffered equally from this annoyance, which 
gave no advantage to either, and often some of the opposing 
pickets would meet for an exchange of papers or coffee, for tobacco. 
This practice was not approved by the officers, as it tended to 
make men less careful in their guard duty. All such meetings 
were stealthily made when the eye of an officer was closed, or busy 
elsewhere. However, they never failed to read a paper obtained 
in this way. This was more objectionable to the Confederates 
than to the Federals. As the former met his Yankee foe, he 
found him comfortably dressed and well fed, besides inspired with 
unshaken confidence in the final success of the Union cause, while 
he looked upon himself as thinly clad and poorly fed. It has 
been stated that in a secret session of the Confederate Congress 
about this time, the condition of the Confederacy, as to subsistence, 
was found to be : — 

"That there was not meat enough in the Southern Confed- 
eracy for the armies it had in the field. 

"That there was not in Virginia either meat or bread enough 
for the armies within her limits. 

"That the supply of bread for those armies to be obtained 
from other places depended absolutely upon keeping open the 
railroad connections of the South. 

"That the meat must be obtained from abroad through a 
seaport. 

"That the transportation was not now adequate, from what- 
ever cause, to meet the necessary demands of the service. 

"That the supply of fresh meat to General Lee's army was 
precarious, and if the army fell back from Richmond and Peters- 
burg, that there was every probability that it would cease 
altogether." 

Confederate prisoners who were captured were lacking in 
Bufficienl clothing, and what they did have was generally ragged 



POPLAR GROVE CHURCH. 245 

and worn threadbare, while the food found in their haversacks was 
of the coarsest kind and very meagre. They had a half-starved 
appearance and their first and most pressing need was for some- 
thing to eat, next, something comfortable to wear. All this went 
to confirm the foregoing statement and to prove that it was no 
exaggeration. The Confederate prisoner knew all this because 
he was made to feel it. He knew, even as a prisoner of war, his 
condition would be greatly improved in every respect, and finally 
he reasoned that the Confederate cause was fast approaching 
low-water mark, growing weaker month by month, and that its 
complete overthrow was but a question of time, he had done 
his full duty and all he could do. The glamour of war as it had 
appeared in the early days of 1861 was losing its charm ; its once 
dazzling beauty was fast fading, while the boasted glory of " one 
Southerner licking a dozen Yankees " remained in doubtful and 
still greater distant perspective; it had not been realized. The 
long-hoped-for intervention of France and England looked more 
doubtful than ever. Reasoning thus, very many of the Confed- 
erates, especially the conscripts, deserted the sinking Confederate 
Ship of State and came into our lines. As the old year 1864 
passed out it saw the hopes of one side growing brighter, while 
those of the other were sinking into impenetrable gloom. Yet if 
the curtain could have been lifted and the future revealed to them 
in all its truth, it would have disclosed this gloom as the darkness 
preceding the dawn of a brighter day, even to the South, than she 
had known in all her past history ; but now they could sing 
the following lines, familiar to them, in both the spirit and the 
letter : — 

" I am dying, Egypt, dying, 

Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast, 
And the dark Plutonian shadows 

Gather on the evening blast." 

During the remainder of the year the Fifty-Seventh suffered 
only one more casualty, that of Private Cornelius J. Doherty, Co. 
G, who was wounded December 7th on the picket line, and thus 
closed the eventful year of 1864. 

We have not been able and have not tried to give the casual- 
ties caused by sickness, only those of battle. 



CHAPTER XII. 




HATCHER'S RUN. 

HE beginning of the year 1865 found the Ninth Corps 
occupying the extreme right of the line of the Army 
of the Potomac, reaching from the Appomattox river 
in a southerly direction, a distance of about seven 
miles, with the division of General Wilcox on the right. 
The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was strongly 
posted in its intrenchments, with Longstreet's corps on 
the extreme left, from the Appomattox to White Oak Swamp 
north of the James, General Gordon's from the Appomattox, facing 
the Ninth Corps, to Fort Gregg, and A. P. Hill's corps from Fort 
Gregg to Hatcher's Run on the extreme Confederate right, cover- 
ing a distance of thirty-seven miles, from White Oak Swamp on 
their left, to the Claiborne Road Crossing of Hatcher's Run on 
their right. To guard this long distance they had an effective 
infantry force, including officers, of 53,764, as shown by 
their return of Dec. 20th, 1864.. This would make about 1,451 
infantry to each mile to be defended ; but, in addition to this, 
they had a strong force of cavalry, three divisions under command 
of Gen. Wade Hampton, to operate on their flanks, besides 
artillery in position along the whole length of the line. Their 
works were as strong as the nature of the ground and engineering 
skill could make them, with batteries in position to cover every 
foot of ground leading to their approach ; besides this, their lines 
were interior and much shorter than the Federal line of approach, 
and so constructed that concentration could quickly be made 
upon any threatened point. We have not the figures showing the 
strength of the Army of the Potomac at that time, but it was not 
far from seventy thousand infantry in the trenches, equipped 



248 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 

for duty. The figures showing the Confederate strength do not 
include the troops in and around Richmond or their outlying 
detachments, neither do the others include the Federal Arm}' of 
the James, or outlying detachments. It is impossible to give 
anything but an approximate estimate of the strength of the two 
armies, as detachments were being constantly sent away for duty 
elsewhere and returning. Confederate morning reports of Feb. 
20th, 1865, show an effective force of all arms of the service, 
equipped and in the trenches around Petersburg, of about 55,500 
men. 

The strength of the Arm} 7 of the Potomac eight days later, 
viz. : Feb. 28th, 1865, according to morning reports of that date, 
was 87 .26* total present for duty, the proportion in favor of the 
Federals being just about 87 to 55. The sick, extra duty men 
and outlying detachments would probably range in just about the 
same ratio. These figures are compiled from " The Virginia 
Campaign of 1864 and 1.S65," by Gen. A. A. Humphreys. 

During the winter the enemy's intrenchments in the vicinity 
of Hatcher's Run were vei'y much strengthened and heavy guns 
placed in position. It was found that the South Side Railroad, 
upon which Lee's army depended for most of its supplies, was 
not able to furnish the necessary transportation, hence the Con- 
federates utilized the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad as far as 
Hicksford, just below where the road had been destroyed by our 
troops, and from that point transported them by wagon train 
around to Petersburg. Although it was in the middle of a very 
cold and severe winter, yet the Federal commander issued orders 
for the movement of troops to intercept this line of transportation. 
On the 5th of February, Ceneral Cregg, with one division of 
cavalry, was ordered to move via Ream's Station to Dinwiddie 
Court House for this purpose. General Warren with the Fifth 

Corp'- ami General Humphreys with two divisions of the Second 

Corps were Ordered to support this movement by taking position 

at a point where the Vaughn road crosses Hatcher's Ran, beyond 

the Confederate right, the fifth Corps at a point about half way 
between the first named (Matcher's Run ) and Dinwiddie Court 
House. This movement was further supported by the Third 



hatcher's run. 249 

Division of the Ninth Corps under General Hartranft. A pro- 
visional brigade was formed consisting of the 3d Maryland, 
57th Massachusetts, with some other regiments, and placed 
under command of Colonel Robinson, 3d Maryland Battalion, to 
co-operate in this movement, and make a strong flank attack 
upon the enemy's right and their fortifications on Hatcher's Run. 
The movement of General Gregg was only partially successful. 
He captured a few wagons and prisoners on the Boyd ton plank 
road, found it was but little used, and set out upon his return to 
Malone's bridge on Rowanty creek. 

The infantry made a reconnoissance of the enemy's position 
on the 6th and found him strongly posted within his iutreuch- 
ments. Towards night the enemy made an attack upon our 
troops but was repulsed. The Confederate General Pegram was 
killed. Some spirited fighting took place on the 7th. The 
Federal loss during the engagement was about fifteen hundred, 
which fell mostly upon the Fifth Corps. The Confederate loss 
was supposed to be about the same. The advantage was in favor 
of the Federals who were now enabled to extend their line of 
intrenchments to the Vaughn road crossing of Hatcher's Run. 
This position was permanently held and the military railroad 
which ran from City Point along in rear of the line held by the 
Army of the Potomac extended to that point. The Fifth Corps 
was now massed in rear of the left. The Fifty-Seventh was not 
brought into this engagement but returned to its former position 
on the 10th. The weather was intensely cold and the troops 
suffered severely on the expedition. Soon after this many of the 
officers of the Ninth Corps were given brevet appointments for 
gallant and meritorious services in battle. Col. Napoleon B. 
McLaughlen of the Fifty-Seventh, was appointed brigadier-general 
by brevet, 1st Lieutenants Albert Doty and Henry M. Ide, 
captaius by brevet. 



44 & 

^4 ty$Q 




CHAPTER XIII. 




FORT STEDMAN. 

HIS battle has been written and re-written so many 
times, in so man}? different ways, and so much better 
than we can expect to do it here, that it would seem 
hardly worth the while for us to attempt it, except as 
it is a part of the history which we are trying to write. It 
has been freely commented upon until there is virtually 
nothing more of general interest that can be brought out. 
Some writers, in attempting to show what their own organizations 
did, have written to the prejudice of others, or omitted mention 
of them entirely. The statement should be made, from the 
beginning, that all the troops engaged in this battle did well and 
performed their duty bravely. Our duty in the present ease is to 
tell the story of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, which we shall 
endeavor to do truthfully, without undue praise, or prejudice to 
any other regiment. The Fifty-Seventh was there, actively 
engaged. It behaved well and sustained a percentage of loss in 
killed and wounded, nearly, if not quite, equal to any other 
organization. 

The Confederate attack upon Fort Stedman March 25th, 1865, 
was a brilliant coup-de-main, somewhat similar to that of the 
Federals at the explosion of the mine on the 30th of July, and, 
like that, resulted in failure and disaster to the assailants, though 
made with great spirit and gallantry. 

Before entering into a description of this affair, a few words 
seem necessary by way of explanation. 

The situation of the two opposing armies, as described in 
the previous chapter, had not materially changed. The Army of 
the Potomac was feeling secure in the occupation of the intrenched 



252 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



lines around Petersburg, while the commanding general was laying 
plans and making preparations for an earl} 7 move, and a final and 
decisive effort to turn the enemy's right flank, which, it was 
believed, would decide the long pending issue. 

On the 24th of March, General Grant issued orders for 
another general movement to the left. This was to take place 
on the 9th. In the meantime General Lee anticipated his adver- 
sary, by making a bold stroke to break the Federal lines towards 
the right, so as to enable him to capture the Federal supplies, get 
in rear of the Army of the Potomac, cut loose from Petersburg 
and eventually join the Confederate army under General Johnston 
in North Carolina. The Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac 
held the extreme right of the line, from the Appomattox river to 
Fort Howard, occupying a line, the front of which was over seven 
miles. The corps was posted with the First Division on the right, 
the Second on the left, while the Third, under command of Gen- 
eral Hartranft, occupied commanding positions in rear as reserve. 
The colored division had been previously, November, 1864, 
transferred to the Army of the James under General Butler. 
The First Division, General Wilcox, was disposed as follows : the 
Second Brigade, Colonel Ely, on the right, its right resting on the 
river and extending nearly to Battery No. 9 ; the Third Brigade, 
Bvt. Brig. -Gen. N. B. McLaughlen commanding, from this point 
to Fort Haskell, and the First Brigade, Col. Samuel Marriman 
commanding, continued the line to Fort Meikle; the First Divi- 
sion covering a distance something over three miles. It is not 
essential that we give the disposition of the several brigades of 
the other two divisions, as the positions held by them were not 
assailed. 

Commencing on the right, the Federals had batteries in posi- 
tion, numbered in numerical order, towards the Left, and protected 
on the side towards the enemy with an embankmenl of earth, but 
left open in rear, while bastioned works, called forts, were con- 
structed in commanding positions along the line. Thus we had 
Fori McGilvery on the right, then Fort Stedman a mile to the 
left, and Fori Haskell about half a mile still further to the left. 

Fori Stedman could hardly be called a bastioned work. It had 



FORT STEDMAX. 253 

formed part of the Confederate defenses which had been captured 
from them in the assaults made the previous June, had been 
hastily remodelled, and was at the time of which we are writing, 
garrisoned by eight companies of the 14th New York Heavy Artil- 
lery under command of Maj. George M. Randall; the 19th New 
York Light Battery, four # twelve-pounders, with some Coehorn 
mortars, along that portion of the line manned by the 1st Con- 
necticut Heavy Artillery. Fort Stedman formed a salient not 
more than one hundred and fifty yards from the Confederate 
intrenchments, so near that the necessary work for keeping it in 
repair or strengthening it could only be done under cover of dark- 
ness. Anything of the kind during the day would draw the fire 
of the enemy. It covered over half an acre of ground and was 
connected with the rest of the line by infantry parapets and pro- 
tected in front by abatis. Its projection was such that if any 
portion of the line to the right or left should be carried by the 
enemy, a flank and rear fire could be brought to bear upon it, and 
it could also bring a front and flank fire upon an enemy charging 
in front. 

The object of the enemy was to break through the Federal 
line to the right, and then take Fort Stedman in reverse and clear 
a sufficient space to the right and left of it to permit the passage 
of the remainder of their army. In speaking of the line, it must 
be remembered that it was not one straight line, but a general one 
composed of straight and curved lines. Many of the batteries, 
although on the general line, were to the rear of its general 
conformation, so that a fire from them could be brought to bear 
upon other portions of our own line. Proceeding towards the left 
from Fort McGilvery, we find Batteries Nos. 8 and 9. Just to 
the right of Fort Stedman, and but a few yards distant, was 
Battery No. 10, while to the left of it, and between Fort Haskell, 
were Batteries Nos. 11 and 12, all defended by light batteries, 
and mounting Coehorn mortars, with a thin line of infantry in- 
trenchments. The Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts occupied a posi- 
tion just to the right and rear of Fort Stedman and Battery No. 
10. The latter was occupied by one section of the 14th Massa- 
chusetts Battery. 



254 



ITFTY-SEYEXTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Previous to this time an order had been issued by the com- 
manding general allowing deserters to come into our lines, bring- 
ing their arms with them, and offering to purchase the same. 
Under the provisions of this order deserters were coming over and 
surrendering to the number of over fifty per day. They were 
first examined by the officer on the picket line and then sent to 
the rear. The enemy saw in this a favorable opportunity of 
gaining possession of our picket line without causing a general 
alarm, from whence he could stealthily advance, under cover of 
darkness, and surprise the troops in our main works. He there- 
fore concentrated a large force for this perilous undertaking, 
which was placed under command of Gen. John B. Gordon, one 
of the ablest and most daring of the Confederate generals. The 
assaulting column was composed of his own corps, formerly 
Kwell's, with part of Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's corps, num- 
bering in all about ten thousand men, with a still larger force 
massed behind, which was to support the movement and advance 
as soon as a sufficient space had been cleared to admit of their 
passage. 

About four o'clock on the morning of March 25th the move- 
ment commenced. The storming party was preceded by a large 
number of men who were taken to be deserters. They came in 
such large numbers that the officer of the guard was unable to 
send them to the rear, so that they were retained on the picket 
line. These pretended deserters soon overpowered our pickets 
and thus gained possession of about half a mile of our picket line. 
They were immediately followed by a body of picked men and 
the latter by the main force, under General Gordon, in three 
columns. One was to push directly to the rear and seize the 
batteries beyond, while the other two were to move to our right 
and left. The enemy's left column soon gained Battery No. 
10, taking it completely by surprise. No alarm up to this time 
had been sounded, and only one gun was Bred from the battery. 
The blow then fell upon the Fifty-Seventh .Massachusetts, which 

was driven hack with heavy loss in killed and wounded and a 

large number captured. The morning was so dark that friend 
could scarcely be distinguished from foe, save by the lighl of the 



FORT STEDMAN. 255 

flashing guns. The opening made by the capture of Battery 
No. 10 now admitted the main force of the assaulting column, 
part of which turned to the right and part to the left, and pro- 
ceeded in the execution of their plan of driving our troops from 
the trenches. The guns from Battery No. 10 were turned upon 
Fort Stedman and an attack was also made upon it from the 
rear. After a stubborn resistance this also fell into the hands 
of the enemy ; some of its defenders escaping through the covered 
way to Fort Haskell and some were taken prisoners. Battery 
No. 11 soon shared the same fate. The troops fought gallantly, 
but nothing could check the impetuous charge of this large body 
of desperate, brave men, until Fort Haskell was reached. By 
this time the Federal troops had recovered from the first shock 
and from their surprise, and were bringing other troops forward, 
not only to oppose the further advance of the Confederates, but 
to make a counter-attack. It was a moment of great danger, 
when time again became an important factor, and was improved 
by the Federals 

The left Confederate column faced to the left and moved 
rapidly up the line towards our right. After the Fifty-Seventh 
had been driven back, it next encountered the 2d Michigan, 
which was thrown into the same confusion, and the enemy pushed 
on to Battery No. 9. Here they met with a strong resistance, 
while the guns of Fort McGilvery were pouring a destructive fire 
upon them. The First Brigade, Colonel Ely, formed a line 
perpendicular to the trenches, facing the charging enemy, and 
in connection with Batteries 5 and 9 and Fort McGilvery, 
repulsed the assatdt upon Battery 9, thus effectually checking a 
further advance towards our right. The greater part of the 
Third Brigade had also formed a perpendicular line at Fort 
Haskell, facing Fort Stedman. 

As the Fifty-Seventh was forced back it took direction 
towards the crest in rear overlooking Fort Stedman, moving back 
without confusion, and making four stauds behind small detached 
works that had been abandoned, against a largely superior force, 
and fighting desperately, losing seven officers and eighty-two 
enlisted men. As thev were flanked out of one position they fell 



256 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



back to another, until they made a final stand behind an old 
abandoned rebel fort known as Dunn House Battery, near the 
Prince George Court House road. Their stubborn resistance while 
falling back, temporarily held the rebel column in check, which was 
pressing forward to the rear of our lines and threatening our 
detached batteries, thus giving General Hartranft time to concen- 
trate the Third Division, and Colonel Tidball, in charge of the 
artillery, to bring up batteries and place them in position at the 
threatened point. This opposed an insurmountable barrier to 
the further advance of the enemy upon the rear of our works and 
the supplies that were stored at Meade's Station on the military 
railroad. The Confederate troops had now been effectually 
checked on all sides. 

General Hartranft, having been early apprised of what was 
taking place, and the alarming condition of affairs, promptly 
concentrated his division on the elevated ground in rear of Fort 
Stedman, and advanced upon the enemy, connecting with the 
Third Brigade on the left and, with the exception of a small 
space on his right, forming a complete cordon of bristling steel 
around the Confederate troops that had broken through our lines, 
and extinguishing their last hope of success. There only re- 
mained the intervening space over which they had first made the 
assault, and our artillery had a cross fire upon that, making a 
retreat perilous, while batteries were pouring a concentrated lire 
upon them as they gathered in and around Fort Stedman. The 
Confederate position was something like that of the Federals in 
the crater on the 30th of July previous. 

They were now vigorously attacked from the three sides. 
1 latteries Nos. 10 and 1 1 were soon recovered by the 29th and 
59th .Massachusetts, 14th New York Heavy Artillery, with some 
Pennsylvania (mops and the3d Maryland, while General Hartranft 
was charged with the duty of recapturing Fori Stedman. As our 
troops pushed forward, the enemy, stubbornly contesting every 
foot of ground, fell back to Fort Stedman. The Fifty-Seventh 

was deployed as skirmishers in front of part of the Third Division 
and moved forward. 'Hie enemy's skirmishers were soon en- 
countered and driven back. Several charges were made and 



KORT STEDMAN. 257 

finally the fort was carried at the point of the bayonet and a 
hand-to-hand struggle followed, which soon resulted in such of 
the enemy who could and dared to take the risk, making their 
escape, while the others laid down their arms and surrendered. 
All the ground that had been lost was now recaptured, and the 
Confederates, after about four hours of gallant fighting, counted 
their loss as 1,949 prisoners, with an unknown loss (reported by 
Fitzhugh Lee at about one thousand) of killed and wounded. 
General Humphreys estimates their aggregate loss in this day's 
operations as nearly four thousand. They also left in our hands 
a large number of small arms and nine stands of colors, a loss 
they could poorly afford, falling, as it did, upon the very flower 
of that brave army, which was fast being crowded into ' ' the 
last ditch." 

The Federal loss was not nearly so great. It fell most 
heavily upon the Ninth Corps, which bad 494 killed and wounded 
and 523 taken prisoners, a total of 1,017. 

The Second Corps, taking advantage of the Confederate 
disaster at Stedman, attempted an assault upon the enemy's line 
further to the left, in hopes of finding it weakened by troops that 
had been sent to support General Gordon. This counter-attack 
failed to carry the main line, which was still held in force bj' the 
corps of General Hill, but after severe fighting, the intrenched 
picket line was carried and held permanently, although the enemy 
made several desperate attempts to recapture it, but were driven 
back each time with severe loss. The Second Corps lost a total 
of 690 men. The Sixth Corps also captured the enemy's intrenched 
picket line, inflicting a considerable loss and sustaining one in 
return of about 400. The total loss of the Army of the Potomac 
for this day was something like 2,100, that of the Confederates 
about 4,000. This includes their loss at Stedman. 

Returning again to the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts at Fort 
Stedman. The men of this regiment were among the first to 
enter the recaptured works, and it was the sergeant-major of the 
Fifty-Seventh, afterwards Lieutenant Pinkham, who captured the 
flag of the 57th North Carolina Confederate regiment, which made 
the honors easy for the flag lost by the Fifty- Seventh Massachu- 



17 



258 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

setts in the crater. The sergeant who carried the colors of the 
57th North Carolina was found lying near them, having been 
killed in their defense, and, as he no doubt honestly believed, 
manfully battling in defence of his country. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker, commanding the regiment, was 
absent at the time as Division Officer of the Day, hence the com- 
mand fell upon the fighting Major Doherty, who was mortally 
wounded in the engagement and survived only one day. More 
can be said of his bravery than pen can accurately portray. He 
was rather brusque in appearance and often emphatic in speech, 
yet he had a heart as warm and true and brave as ever beat in 
human breast. He was always spoken of as the " brave Doherty," 
and Avas one who never knew fear, or was ever known to falter 
or flinch in the face of danger. Upon the battlefield he was like 
a raging lion. Military in all his bearing, we well remember 
him in the uniform coat, which he always wore closely buttoned 
around him in battle. It had been pierced with several bullets, 
while he seemed to bear a charmed life, and had escaped injury 
up to the first charge in front of Petersburg, June 17th, mentioned 
in a previous chapter, where one hand was badly mangled by a 
canister shot. He was an erratic sort of a man of whom nearly 
every one who knew him had some amusing stoiy to tell. He 
was capital stock to draw on, because almost incredible stories 
could be told of him, which were absolutely true. Chaplain 
Dashiell gives a brief account of the circumstances attending his 
death: " Major .lames Doherty was brought into the hospital 
mortally wounded. The chaplain told him his condition and 
asked him what he should write to his wile. He replied. 'Tell 
the poor Little thing that I die like a man.' He lingered in 
greal paitl several hours, telling the chaplain who pressed upon 
him the gracious offer of salvation through Christ, that lie could 
not insult the Saviour by offering him the ' dregs of his life.' " 

Doherty was the ideal of soldierly courage. A brother 
officer who served with him in the 1st Massachusetts, said that 
at Gettysburg he commanded a part of the skirmish line, which 
was trying to impede the advance of tin' rebels, when his men 
began to fall back in Bpite of all his efforts to hold them to their 



FORT STEDMAN. 259 

work. Furious and exhausted, he was overheard saying: " O 

God, do help us to whip these d d rebels." In a charge his 

flaming sword was always in the van, and his voice could be 
heard above the din of battle cheering his men to the conflict. 
He was affectionately touched by the tender care and solicitude 
of the chaplain, and as he breathed his last, pathetically exclaimed, 
"God bless you, Chaplain." 

We cannot look into the future and perceive all the mysteri- 
ous wonders that "eye hath not seen nor ear heard," andean 
conceive but little through an indwelling faith that it is "a land 
that is fairer than this " ; and when we read of the woman who 
was made whole only by touching the hem of His garment, we 
must believe that somehow and in some way the inspiration which 
spoke the words, " I cannot insult the Saviour by offering him 
the dregs of my life," touched the hem of that invisible garment 
of mercy and pardon, and that our brave comrade who won the 
soldiers' love and "died like a man" in defence of his country, 
also won a merciful Saviour's love and a title clear to an immortal 
life. 

Sergt. William F. Oakes writes of his being with Major 
Doherty when he was wounded, and his thrilling experience in 
that memorable battle. Writing of what took place in the camp of 
the Fifty-Seventh, he says .... "I turned around for a moment 
and saw Major Doherty lying on his back. I went to him and 
asked if he were wounded. Looking up, he replied that he 
had received his death-wound. Lieutenant Hitchcock and I carried 
him to his tent and laid him on his bed and I loosened his belt. 
He asked me to take what things he had about him and give them 
to his wife. I had just taken his watch and money and put them 
in my pocket when the ' rebs ', having driven our men back, came 
into the Major's tent and said to me, ' Surrender, you Yan- 
kee, or we will blow you through.' Seeing a dozen rifles pointed at 
my head, I surrendered. I had a heavy ring on nry finger which 
they soon discovered and tried to wrench off, but, as my hand had 
become considerably swollen, they were unable to do so. One 
took out his knife for the purpose of cutting it off, when a rebel 
colonel came into the tent and caused them to desist, and sent me 



2 GO 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



to the Confederate Hue, under charge of a sergeant, as a prisoner. 
"We met several squads of Confederate soldiers who would have 
robbed me, only for the protection I received from the sergeant. 
It seemed almost a miracle that we reached their lines alive, as 
the shells from our own side were falling and bursting all around 
us. I met General McLaughlen, who was also a prisoner, in 
Petersburg, and thinking Major Doherty's watch and money 
would be safer with him than me, I gave them to him. Just before 
leaving the Major in his tent, he asked me to tell his wife that he 
died like a hero, and to tell the men that he died fighting like a 
soldier." 

Col. Thomas "William 'Clarke relates the following of Major 
James Doherty : " He had served in the 1st Massachusetts and 
had distinguished himself for that kind of courage and ability in 
the management of men, which makes a man successful as a line 
officer of volunteers. He had also worn the red flannel shirt and 
bed-ticking trousers and straw hat of Walker's Filibusters in 
Nicaraugua, and rendered himself so noticeable there that he had 
impressed himself upon Doctor Whelpley, surveyor-general under 
"Walker, who told me one or two anecdotes about him. Although 
Doherty had been only a private soldier, he was a captain in 
the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts when the battle of the Wilder- 
ness took place and where the regiment suffered severely, marching 
out the next morning with considerably reduced ranks. A surgeon 
rode up to see the regiment on the march, and noticing Doherty 
marching along very cheerfully, said to him: ' Captain Doherty, 
Wilcox, of your company, died last night in the hospital, of his 
wounds, and I was able to have him buried in the yard of the 
house we used as a hospital, and had a piece of board stuck up at 
the head of the grave, on which the name of his company and 
regiment were marked, so that his body can lie recovered if desir- 
able.' This of course was intended to make a Li'ood impression 
upon the men and show that they were not entirely deserted and 
thrown away, hut DoheMy turned on the doctor and said: 'Are 

you quite sure of what you say. Doctor?' ' Certainly,' said the 
doctor, l quite sure.' ' Are you sure il was Wilcox?' -Certainly, 
Captain Doherty, don't you suppose I know Wilcox, often as he 



FORT STEDMAX. 261 

has been up to sick call in the morning?' ' Well, Doctor,' said 
Doherty, ' it's all right if you say so.' Turning to his company, 
he said : 'Wilcox, turn in your gun and equipments to the 1st 
sergeant, go back to the hospital and crawl into that grave. 

What in do you suppose I'm made of that you, a dead man, 

dare to march around in the ranks of this company? Don't you 
hear the doctor say you are officially dead? Get out of here." 

1st Lieut. Albert M. Murdock was also killed in this engage- 
ment. He was a promising young man of but nineteen years, of 
excellent attainments, both in his personal character and bearing 
as a soldier, qualities that endeared him to both officers and men, 
winning their confidence and esteem. He had just reached that 
stage of life when all the hopes and aspirations seem so full of 
promise. He was the only son of Cyrus M. Murdock of West 
Boylston, a southern boy by birth, having been born in Arkansas, 
where his father resided for twenty years. He was sent north to 
school about three or four 3-ears before the outbreak of the war, 
and was for some time a member of the Highland Military Academy 
in the city of Worcester, Mass. At the very beginning of the 
war. though a schoolboy of only sixteen, he was ambitious to 
serve his country as a soldier, but was then too young. Upon the 
organization of the Fifty-Seventh, he obtained permission from 
his father and enlisted at the age of eighteen, Jan. 11th, L864, 
and was soon after appointed sergeant-major, a position for 
which he was well qualified and which he filled with honor to him- 
self and credit to the service. He was severely wounded in the 
battle of the Wilderness and thereby disabled from active duty 
for several months. Upon his recovery he returned to the regi- 
ment and was appointed 1st lieutenant, to date from Oct. 17th, 
1864, and was in command of his company at Fort Stedman. As 
he saw the color sergeant fall, he seized the standard and while 
bearing it aloft, and cheering his men forward, fell with a mortal 
wound and soon expired. " Take care of the flag," were his last 
words, as he handed it to a brother officer who stood near him. 
This flag was stained with his own life's blood and torn by hostile 
shot. Chaplain Dashiell took a clipping from it, which be still 
retains and prizes very highly. 



2 62 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Thousands of such noble young lives were given in defence 
of our country. Such heroic deaths were the sacrifices made that 
our country might live. Their memory is cherished as one of 
those priceless treasures which make our country's flag so dear to 
those who helped in defending it. May those brave words, " Take 
care of the flag," be passed down from generation to generation, 
from sire to son, to inspire the hearts of all who are yet to live 
to enjoy the blessings of our reunited country, and live in peace 
beneath the protecting folds of the dear old flag. 

The remains of Lieutenant Murdock were conve} T ed to his 
home in "West Boylston, Mass., and buried with military honors. 
The State Guards from Worcester, under command of Captain 
Phillips, were in attendance, also several members of the Fifty- 
Seventh regiment. 

The Fifty-Seventh lost in the battle Lieut. Albert 31. 
Murdock, killed, and Maj. James Doherty mortally wounded; 
Lieuts. Edward F. Potter and James Peacock wounded, the latter 
severely. The following is a list of enlisted men killed, wounded 
and missing : — 



Frederick S. Cheney, Corp. Co. C 
Edwin Cudworth, l'vt. Co. E 
Ozro A. Brigham, •' " 



Frederick W. Parks. 
James Leslie, 



l'vt. 



Cu. F 
Co. G 



WOUNDED. 



John S. Mill-. Corp. Co. A 
Gusta Beltran, l'vt. 

James Walsh. " " 

Caleb s. Austin, " Co. B 

Warren E, Brewer, " " 

( 'harlcs 15. (ira\ es. " " 

Charles I. Defose, 1st Sergt. Co. C 

.1: is Norway, i'\ I , " 

( reorge n Sears, •■ Co. D 

II. II. Paine, Lsl Sergt. Co. E 
W. II. Duncan, I'm. 
Charles E. Barnard, 

lsl Sergt. Co. F 

\'mi! m Nicker son, Corp. " 



James Carey, l'vt. ( !o. F 

Alfred E. Gore, 
Patrick Portland, 
George Adams, lsl Scr^t 
George M. Wakeman, P\ t. 
George 11. Wellman, 
Thomas .1. Tourtellott, " 
Edward P. Taft, 

\V. R. William 
John A. Miller, 
Henry II. Perrj , 
Sanborn I >. II < >w e, 
Smith .1. Lee, 
I. a fa\ el te St Lckney, 



Co. G 

Co. II 



lsl Sergl Co. I 
( !orp. ( 'o. K 

Pvl. 



FORT STED.MAX. 



263 



Col. N. B. McLaugMen. 

1st Lieut. 



Alexander Bedreaux, 


Pvt. 


Co. 


A 


Augustus Clangnin, 


" 


" 




Patrick Delaney, 


u 


" 




Patrick Dokerty, 


u 


" 




William J. Roper 


" 


" 




Harris C. Warren, 


" 


Co. 


B 


Patrick Gallen, 


Corp. 


Co. 


C 


Anson J. Bishop, 


Pvt. 


" 




Gustavus S. Hold en, 


" 






William Kyle, 


it 


" 




John Murphy, 


it 


" 




Jacob Meatte, 


" 


ti 




George Willis, 


" 






Martin McMahou, 


Mus'n 


Co. 


D 


Patrick Flynn, 


Pvt. 






Peter J. Mambert, 


; ' 






John O'Sullivan, 


" 






Alexander McCoy, 


Corp. 


Co. 


E 


James Sullivan, 


Mus'n 






Otis C. Xorcross, 


Pvt. 


c< 




John Casey, 


Pvt. 


Co. 


F 


John Coughlin, 


" 


" 




George R. Edgecomb 


, " 


" 




Edward Pine, 


" 


lt 




Michael McGown, 


" 


" 





Capt. Henry C. Ward 
Thomas Sturgis. 

Henry E. Hutchins, Sergt. Co. G 

John Smith, Corp. " 
Charles Hamlin, " " 

Charles H. Barton, Pvt. " 

William E. Cleveland, " 
Humphrey Connor, "■ "• 

Lewis Mountain, " " 

George A Monroe, " 
( (scar B. Phelps, " " 

Frederick P Hutchins," Co. H 
James H. Raymond, " " 

Joseph L. Cummings, " 

Loren S. Holmes, Mus'n Co. I 

William Maguire, Pvt. " 

Warren W. Wheeler, " " 

John Snow, " " 

William Shaftoe, Sergt. Co. K 
William F. Oakes, 

Frank H. Lowell, Corp. " 
George T. Pickett, 

Frank Allcott, Pvt. 
Samuel H.Holyoke, " " 

Alonzo R. Mason, " " 

William Pike, 



The regiment went into the engagement with 11 officers and 
206 men, and lost 7 officers and 82 enlisted men, being nearly 
6-4 per cent of officers and nearly 41 of enlisted men. In killed 
and wounded 32 -4-10 per cent of officers, and 15 5-10 per cent 
enlisted men. 

As we said of the crater, so we say of Fort Stedman. The 
assailants did all that brave men could do to win success, but the 
difficulties they had to contend with were absolutely insurmount- 
able. They made repeated assaults upon Fort Haskell only to be 
repulsed. Every attempt to advance and gain a permanent 
foothold in our works beyond, and to the right and left of the 
captured fort, resulted in failure. Finally General Gordon, the 



264 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Confederate commander, attempted to rally and re-form bis 
troops in rear of Fort Stedman, where his columns had been 
united as they were driven back, but it was not yet light, the 
Federal troops were pressing him from three sides, with the bat- 
teries dropping shells into their midst like falling stars. Under 
these conditions it was impossible to restore order. Every 
moment the confusion became greater on their side and less upon 
our own. Several attempts were made to take Fort Haskell in 
reverse, as Fort Stedman had been taken. This might possibly 
have succeeded early in the engagement, but in the darkness, to 
accomplish anything through the intricate entanglements of our 
works, was impossible. What they needed most was daylight and 
a pocket guide for each man. 

General McLaughlen, commanding the Third Brigade of the 
First Division, entered Fort Stedman and commenced to give 
orders to the Confederate troops, thinking they were men of his 
own command. He discovered his mistake only when he was 
taken prisoner. 

The Fifty-Seventh had to move out of their camp rather 
unceremoniously and were not given time to pack their effects, in 
consequence of which both officers and men lost nearly everything 
they had except the clothing they. wore. 

This must have been a grand treat for the ragged, half- 
starved Confederates who had not partaken of a good, square 
meal for a long time; and then they ought to have felt happy in 
n good comfortable suit of Yankee clothing, only they were not 
allowed to enjoy it in peace. 

After the action, and during the day. the enemy asked for a 
Hag of truce for the purpose of removing their dead and wounded 
who were lying between the lines. This was promptly -ranted 
along thai portion of the line where the engagement had taken 
place. During this time many of our officers met those from the 

other side and extended them every courtesy which they could 
properly. Captain Cooke relates an incident of meeting General 
Ransom of the Confederate army and giving him a gold ring which 
had been taken from a dead Confederate officer, the General 
thanking him in behalf of the dead officer's family who were 



FORT STEDMAN. 265 

known to him. There was no taunting the enemy with his defeat 
or vain boasting over it. 

In placing the record of the battle upon the pages of the his- 
tory of the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts we realize that it is not 
complete without the stories and personal experiences related by 
others. It cannot be expected that all will be the same, any 
more than that every twinkling star in the firmament is like every 
other star, but all are well authenticated and full of interest, and 
told as they saw it. If we have omitted to mention all other 
organizations, it is not because we claim all the credit of that 
victory, as we only claim our share ; nor is it because others are 
not so justly entitled to honorable mention, but because we are 
writing only the history of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts. We 
take pleasure in submitting to the reader what others have said, 
together with copies of official reports made at the time, and since 
published by the United States War Department in "Rebellion 
Records" ; copies of which have been kindly furnished us by Maj. 
George B. Davis, U.S. Army, to whom we wish to return our 
thanks. 

Gen. Fitzhugh Lee (a near relative of Gen. R. E. Lee) writes 
the Confederate story as follows : — 

" General Lee determined to make one more effort, by a 
bold stroke, to break the chains forged to confine him. Grant had 
so exhausted his left* that he thought to break through his works 
near the Appomattox below the east of Petersburg, and hence 
determined to assault Fort Stedman two miles from the city, 
where the opposing lines were one hundred and fifty yards and 
the respective pickets fifty yards apart. General Gordon, an 
officer always crammed with courage and fond of enterprise, was 
selected to make the attack with his corps, formerly Early's, and 
parts of Longstreet's and Hill's and a detachment of cavalry. 
His object was to capture the fort, thrust the storming party 
through the gap and seize three forts on the high ground beyond 
and the lines on the right and left of it, under the impression that 
the forts were open at the gorge. But there were no such forts. 
The redoubts that had a commanding fire on Fort Stedman were 
in the main line in the rear and, in fact, were a line of intrencli- 



*It is presumed Lee meant to say Grant's right. — J. A. 



206 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



ments. At about half past four on the morning of March 2"»th, 
Gordon made his daring sortie, broke through the trench guards, 
overpowered the garrison and captured Fort Stedman, or Hare's 
Hill, and two adjacent batteries, but after a most gallant struggle, 
was forced to retire, losing 1,949 prisoners and 1,000 killed and 
wounded, but bringing back 560 prisoners and Brigadier-Geueral 
McLaughlen." 

Col. Thomas W. Clarke, who was adjutant-general of the 
Third Brigade at the battle of Fort Stedman, and in a position to 
know much about the engagement, has kindly contributed the fol- 
lowing statement, which is clear and concise, and adds much to 
the history of the engagement. We have omitted some portions 
of his paper where reference is made to positions shown on certain 
maps, as we have not the maps alluded to, but from the expla- 
nations heretofore given, it will not be difficult to trace out the 
most important positions and the general features of the ground : — 

"On the night of the 24th and 25th of March, 1865, Gen. 
N. B. McLaughlen's Third Brigade was constituted and posted as 
follows : . . . . The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts held the line 
from Battery 9 to Battery 10. It was mostly level ground, rising 
considerably near Fort Stedman, and was very much exposed to 
the fire of Confederate sharpshooters. The road in rear of the 
breastworks was on higher ground than the works. The Fifty- 
Seventh had about one hundred and seventy-five men, and was well 
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker and Captain Doherty 
who held a major's commission but was not mustered. The 14th 
New York Artillery, about five hundred strong, was partly in Fori 
Stedman and Battery 10, and partly in Fort Haskell. Battery 
1 1 was a pan coupe redan, with a bomb-proof barrack across its 
gorge, and was garrisoned by the 29th Massachusetts who also 
extended along the curtain to Battery 12. It had about 1 2."> 
muskets and was well led and officered. The writer was a captain 
in this regiment, and had been commissioned colonel, but was not 

mustered. Ma j . Charles T. Richardson commanded the battalion, 
and several of the officers were on staff duty. The 1 1 >< > 1 1 i Penn- 
sylvania, about live hundred strong, commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Pentecost, a singularly brave and skilful officer of the 



FORT STEDMAN. "267 

highest personal character, was between Battery 12 and Fort 
Haskell, and the 3d Maryland Battalion, about two hundred 
strong, was on the left of Fort Haskell and connected with Harri- 
man's First Brigade. The 59th Massachusetts, under Major 
Gould, was in an old line of works, in the rear of the main Hue, 
near Battery 13. There were field-pieces in Forts S ted man and 
Haskell, mortars in Battery 10 and Coehorns in Battery 12. The 
troops who served these were not under the brigade commander, 
but were controlled by Colonel Tidball, commanding Artillery 
Brigade, Ninth Army Corps. 

"The position in front of this brigade had been carefully 
reconnoitered and was considered fully defensible on both sides, 
except between Fort Stedman aud Colquitt's salient. There 
McLaughlen believed a break could be made in the enemy's lines, 
and had submitted a plan for an attack at that point early in the 
year. Encouragement enough had been given to him to cause 
him to train a body of axemen for the pioneer service necessary. 
All the regiments were obliged to furnish their own fuel, and 
great quantities of timber were required for the repair of breast- 
works. Instead of occasional details for this work, each regi- 
ment selected several expert axemen and kept them constantly 
at work in the woods preparing timber and fuel, which was 
brought in weekly by the wagons. Several enlisted men and at 
least one officer had been across into Colquitt's salient and were 
well qualified to serve as guides in case of an attack. These axe- 
men were to have formed the axemen for the proposed assault. 
The difficulty of the position was such that it was thought 
necessary to have constantly on the picket line from Fort Sted- 
man to Fort Haskell an officer, with the authority of an officer of 
the day, in that part of the line, and such an officer was regu- 
larly detailed from the officer of the day roster, and called captain 
of the picket. Standing orders required the troops to be under 
arms half an hour before daybreak, and a staff officer visited the 
main line every night after twelve o'clock and again rode around 
about daylight to see that due vigilance was exercised. All this 
was done without fuss or ostentation. The General participated 
in this work of inspection. The general calls for reveille, 



268 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT Mass. VOLUNTEERS. 



retreat and tattoo were played by the brigade baud near head- 
quarters, aud were taken up from theuce by the field music iu the 
lines. 

" No person can truly say he ever saw any officer of the 
brigade staff gambling, and any kind of card playing by them or 
at headquarters was so unusual that at this time uo officer of 
McLaughleu's brigade can be found who remembers a single 
game of cards there. In fact, card playing and gambling were 
rare all through the brigade. The whiskey purchases by officers 
were made on written orders, which were required to be examined 
and approved by the battalion commanders and by the General 
before delivery of the whiskey ; and a list of the orders approved 
was sent daily to the commissary, who was required to confine 
his sales to officers named in the list. Sutlers or purveyors were 
not allowed to keep or sell drink. A register of officers and 
their whiskey purchases was kept at brigade headquarters, that a 
proper check might be given to those who indulged too freely. 
The General was particularly abstemious and respected abstinence 
in others; yet in the three or four months before the 25th of 
March, no whiskey order had been refused approval, and only 
three or four officers had been warned or cautioned. General 
Grant's order, inviting Confederate deserters to bring over their 
arms, had caused McLaughlen considerable uneasiness, and he 
had applied for liberty to suspend it on his front, but without 
success. 

" At about three o'clock in the morning of March 25th, 
Lieut. Henry C. Joslyn, 29th Massachusetts, captain of the 
picket, scut a message to brigade headquarters, saying that an 
unusual number of deserters were coming over with arms, and 
he asked for instructions. The General was at once aroused, 
horses were ordered to he saddled, orderlies were senl to every 

regimenl directing them to be gol under arms quietly and at once, 
and the 59th was ordered to move promptly to brigade head- 
quarters. Lieutenant .loslyn's messenger was sent hack with 
instruction-- to detain the deserters for half an hour and then send 
them in under a small guard. It was expected that by that time 
the 59th would be in position near Fort Stedman to receive them. 



FORT STEDMAN. 269 

In addition to this, word was sent to Colonel Harriman on our 
left that he had better get under arms, and, if he could, get a 
regiment loose from his lines to support us. A messenger was 
also sent to General Hartranft, commanding the reserve division 
of Pennsylvania troops beyond the railroad, to ask him to get 
under arms and move to our support, as we dreaded an attack. 
Lieutenant Joslyn reported that he had sent to Major Richardson 
in Battery 1 1 , and Major Randall at Fort Stedman, asking them 
to get under arms, and Major Richardson had reported that there 
were signs in his front of an impending attack, and had been 
assured that he should have all the aid in our power. 

" Before all these messages had been sent off, the General 
and his aide, Lieutenant Sturges of the Fifty-Seventh Massachu- 
setts, went over to meet the 59th and to lead them direct to Fort 
Stedman, instead of by way of brigade headquarters. Just 
before he set out flashes of musketry began to appear on the 
lines. After ordering the tents struck and baggage packed on 
wagons, the staff officers mounted and rode out towards the lines. 
The conduct of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts was concealed 
from us hy a ridge in the rear of Fort Stedman, but that of the 
29th and 100th could well be seen. The 29th held to Battery 11. 
They were attacked on all sides, driven out, retook it, fought 
from both sides of the parapet, captured prisoners and three or , 
more flags, and did not finally lose the place until about seven 
o'clock. They succeeded in sending their flags and prisoners to 
headquarters. Among them was one represented to be an 
artillery colonel. The 100th Pennsylvania swung back its right 
and retired slowly, desperately fighting, till it was formed on a 
line nearly perpendicular to the works. They captured and sent 
.in prisoners and two flags in this contest. The 3d Maryland • 
moved up to Fort Haskell. The 59th assisted in the recapture 
of Battery 11, but were badly treated, and fell back, principally, 
I am informed, on the outside of the breastworks to Fort 
Haskell. 

" General McLaughlen's statement was that he went into Fort 
Stedman and found promiscuous fighting in the fort. He saw 
some men driven out over the walls, and went up to a consider- 



270 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



able party and gave orders to man the parapets. They obeyed 
him to some extent, till some one of them asked who he was, and 
on his reply, ' General McLaughlen, commanding this brigade,' he 
and his aide were seized and disarmed. Major Randall was 
then in the fort and was spoken to by the General. Some of the 
14th Artillery from Fort Stedman fell back to near brigade head- 
quarters, and re-formed there, parallel to our works, taking 
advantage of some old works in that neighborhood. The report 
of the work of the Fifty-Seventh was that they fell back, skir- 
mishing, towards Harrison's creek and the old line of works. 
They lost heavily in killed and wounded, including Major Doherty 
in command, but had few prisoners taken. 

"Colonel Harriman had promptly disengaged a regiment and 
moved it to his right, thus making the infantry defense on the 
side of Fort Haskell reasonably secure. The artillery in the 
batteries in our rear had opened, and were doing good service. 
The ground between brigade headquarters and Forts Haskell and 
Stedman was quite heavily wooded with large trees, but was free 
of underbrush, and the morning was foggy. The fight had now 
been going on about two hours, and it was shortly before six 
o'clock. Fighting was still going on around Battery 11. The 
Fort Stedman detachment of the 14th New York Artillery was on 
the right of brigade headquarters and had been somewhat engaged 
in their new position. A long gap was open between them and 
the right of the 100th Pennsylvania, occupied only by the brigade 
pioneers, about forty men, under Sergeant Randolph of the 100th 
Pennsylvania, and by the mounted officers and orderlies of the 
staff, but along this gap was a line of detached earthworks of 
considerable length and of somewhat formidable appearance. 
About half <>f the brigade band and the headquarters' clerks had 

obtained arms and were aligned with the pioneers. A long gap 

existed between the left of the 100th Pennsylvania and Fort 

Haskell. Hut neither of these gaps was an eighth of a mile 
ami they were covered on the side of Fort Baskell by the 8d 
Maryland, and on the other side by Ilarrimau's regiment in 
echelon on the Hunks of the LOOtfa lVnnsyl vania . 



FORT STEDMAN. 



271 



" Shortly before six o'clock Captain Shorkley, of General 
Hartranft's staff, rode up to say that a regiment, detached by him, 
was at hand, and to inquire where it should be put. General 
McLaughlen's capture had just been officially reported, and there 
was no time to search for his successor, Colonel Robinson. It 
was therefore determined to push direct for Fort Stedman and 
Battery 1 1 . But it was uncertain how much room there was in 
which to deploy and move. Captain Shorkley was asked to wait 
a moment, and an officer then rode down the road leading to Fort 
Stedman. He had not gone more than two hundred yards before 
he met Confederate skirmishers, one of whom fired on him at 
short range, cutting the hat cord on his hat. Turning his horse 
he said to the man, who was reloading within speaking distance, 
* If you were my man, I'd give you ten days in guardhouse for 
missiug an easy shot like that,' and galloped back. The only 
available men for use just here were the pioneers, who got this 
order : ' Sergeant Randolph, the head of General Gordon's divi- 
sion is coming up that road. Deploy your pioneers as skirmishers 
and whip it.' 'I am to whip a division with pioneers, sir?' 
' Certainly. You shall be relieved with a line of battle in ten 
minutes. Make lots of racket.' The pioneers were thrown in 
with great enthusiasm and noise, and under their cover the 208th 
Pennsylvania of Hartranft's division was moved out and arrayed 
in deployed line, facing the lost works. Every mounted officer 
and orderly present, sixteen in all, then fell in line behind them, 
and they slowly moved down, under a heavy fire, about half way 
to the objective point, where they were halted and laid down be- 
hind an old line of rifle pits. Not a mounted man escaped being- 
hit in this movement, though half of them came off with injuries 
only to horses and clothes. During this advance the firing was 
very heavy at Fort Haskell and in its neighborhood. The 100th 
Pennsylvania advanced at the same time, and Colouel Robinson 
brought up the 3d Maryland from its position, in echelon, and 
assumed command of all the troops in this part of the field. The 
loss of the 208th Pennsylvania was about half the loss of Hart- 
ranft's division that day, and was suffered mostly in this ad- 
vance. It was not thought prudent to go clear on to the lost 



272 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



lines at that moment, as Hartranft was not up within supporting 
distance. From this time to the final charge very little fighting 
was done in this part of the field. Over four hundred prisoners 
and six or seven flags had been taken up to this time bj? troops 
of the Second Brigade and forwarded from brigade to corps head- 
quarters, as communication with the division was interrupted by 
the interposed column of Confederates. 

Li From this time, about half past six, till shortly before eight, 
the situation in this part of the field w r as much like this : the left 
consisted of detachments of the 14th New York Artillery, 29th 
and 59th Massachusetts. Next these were the 3d Maryland and 
100th Pennsylvania as organizations. Next was the 208th Penn- 
sylvania, and next them the Fort Stedman detachment of the 14th 
New York Artillery. A line of Confederate skirmishers extended 
from near Battery 12 towards Stedman, and the works in the rear 
were full of Confederate troops. Hartranft was advancing with 
two brigades, his left near the road leading to the right from Fort 
Stedman, and his line deployed parallel to the general direction 
of the line of works between McGilvery and Stedman. On 
Hartranft's right was the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, zealous to 
regain their lost works, and to avenge their lost major. 

" Colonel Tidball of the Artillery Brigade had not been idle, 
but had sent us a six-gun brass battery to brigade headquarters, 
where it was advantageously posted in rear of the interval be- 
tween the 208th and the right detachment of the 14th New York 
Artillery. The officer in command was a little astonished to And 
himself on outpost duty, and to be told that we intended to 
charge without reserves, but consoled himself by remarking: *I 
shall give them a curious time with canister before these guns are 
taken, even if your infantry fails in its charge.' As these guns 
were going iii position a little before eight, an aide from General 
Hartranft came with his compliments to say to the commanding 
• .nicer Third Brigade, that he would charge in Qve minutes, and 
would be pleased to have the Third Brigade co-operate. Colonel 
Robinson at once replied: 'Give my compliments to General 
Hartranft, and Bay I am charging cow,' immediately giving the 
order to rise up and charge. The concave line just described then 




WILLIAM SHAFTOE, 

1st Serg-t. Co. K, 57th Mass. 



FORT STEDMAN. 273 

charged, converging on the works, the right aiming at Fort Sted- 
man, the left to sweep up the line, and the centre directed on 
Battery 11. The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts swept up to their 
own works, and every gap of escape was promptly closed, except 
on the right of Battery 10 to a point about half way to Battery 9. 
The tumult of Hartranft's charge was heard while Robinson's line 
was advancing, and the rear rank of Robinson's troops was 
promptly faced about from Battery 10 to Battery 12. We had 
charged past the right flank of the enemy and were in the rear of 
his right wing. One flag was taken in this charge by a sergeant 
of the 208th Pennsylvania. A line of Confederates now appeared 
directing themselves on Fort Stedman and Battery 11, and 
coming on at great speed, and shouts of ' Halt,' ' Surrender,' 
' Down with your arms,' rose all along the line. For an instant 
it seemed as if we must fire on them, they came on so steadily, 
but presently their guns began to be cast upon the ground, the 
line turned to the left, and the order, ' Strip off your belts,' was 
complied with, and about 800 enlisted men and over 40 officers 
were prisoners of war. 

" The fortune of war so ruled that the First Division, which 
made the assault at the mine, and the Third Brigade, which under- 
went the assault at Fort Stedman, were to a great extent 
identical. 

' ' Let us apply the maxim ' a man is known by the company 
he keeps ' to these men. Occasions for special acts of gallantry 
must occur in an army, mostly when the men who do them are 
with, and supported by, their associates. Four hundred and 
seventy-four officers and men were selected for decoration with 
medals of honor out of the two millions who served in the war. 
Ten of these were in the regiments of McLaughlen's brigade ; yet 
all the organizations of that brigade never had on their rolls over 
seven thousand men. They got, in other words, six times their 
share of medals for gallantry. The 100 Pennsylvania won four 
per cent of these honors awarded to troops from that State. The 
Massachusetts troops of this brigade earned five medals out of the 
twenty-one which Massachusetts got, and two of the others were 
won by two other regiments of Ledlie's division. The 3d Mary- 



is 



274 



KIKTY-SEYKXTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



land won half of the Maryland medals ; yet Ledlie's division has 
been stated, in what purports to be history, to have been the 
worst in the army .... 

" The war is ended, many of the men who survived it sleep be- 
neath the green earth of many a country graveyard, and mere justice 
to their children requires that the record of those two desperate 
mornings* should be completed by a comrade who was in a position 
to observe, aud who was required to see and know, free from the 
actual stress of bodily fighting, the connections and combinations 
of all parts of our own contesting troops, and to comprehend this 
combination and further it. Were Marshall or McLaughlen alive 
they would be allowed to tell their own story, except so far as 
they asked for aid. Failing that, their adjutant tells his general's 
story, as he believes the general would tell it, and as his own 
remembrance of observed facts requires." 

Bvt. Capt. Charles H. Pinkham, who was sergeant-major of 
tin- Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts at the battle of Fort Stedman, 
and whose gallantry was mentioned by the division, brigade and 
regimental commanders, has contributed his personal recollections 
of the battle. This will be interesting to every comrade who was 
there, as it is a modest voice from the Fifty-Seventh. Captain 
Pinkham is now an honored citizen of the city of AVorcestcr. 
Mass. 

Worcester, Mass.. Jan. I5tb, L895. 

Captain John Anderson, U.S. Army. 

\fy Dear Captain: In accordance with your request, I am pleased 
id submit herewith my personal recollections of the battle of Fort stc<l- 
raan, March 25th, L865. For nearly eleven months the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts had been with the Army of the Potomac, an 1 bad partici- 
pated In every engagement from the Wilderness down. Since the siege 
of Petersburg, it had occupied mhhc of the mosl exposed position- along 
the Lines in front of Petersburg and had taken an active part in the flank- 
ing movements t<> the left, a- well as all those made in our front for the 
purpose of a«i\ ancing t he lines. 

in the early part of 1865, orders bad been issued allowing deserters 
from the rebel army to come within our lines, bringing their arm- ami 
equipments, The wisdo f Buch an order, as appeared in the light >>f 



•| be crater and Stedman.— J. A. 



KORT STEDMAN. 275 

events which followed, may well be questioned and lead to the opinion 
that, from a military standpoint, it was a mistake. 

On the morning of March 25th, 1865, the regiment was in camp 
to the right and rear of Fort Stedman, near the Prince George Court 
House road, covering the earthworks, or trenches, at this point. As it 
was not practicable for troops to remain constantly in the trenches, on 
account of the peculiar conformation of the ground at this place, and the 
water and mud that had settled there, the men of the regiment not on 
guard duty, were permitted to sleep in their tents just behind the in- 
trenched lines. In fact it was not deemed absolutely necessary for them 
to remain in the trenches, as there was a trench guard and a line of 
picket posts in front. I was sergeant-major of the Fifty-Seventh and 
tented with Adjutant Doty, Avho was absent on leave at the time, and 
Lieutenant A. O. Hitchcock was acting in his place. 

We were awakeued about three or four o'clock that morning by 
hearing unusual firing on the picket line. I immediately got up and 
reported the matter to Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker and Major Doherty, 
and the regiment was immediately turned out under arms and formed 
line. Companies G and K were deployed as skirmishers in our camp, 
moved forward and were most of them taken prisoners. Even at that 
time the "Johnnies" were inside our lines and in Fort Stedman, having 
captured several of our picket posts under the well-played ruse of being- 
deserters from the rebel army. They came in such large numbers as to 
be able to capture and overpower our pickets in that immediate vicinity. 
If the order permitting them to come in and bring their arms had not 
been issued, the battle of Fort Stedman would, probably, never have 
taken place, and General Gordon would never have made an attack here. 

The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts was without support, either on 
the right or left, and as it was taken in flank by an overwhelming force, 
the only course was to fall back, which was quickly done. It was either 
a hasty retreat or the surrender of the whole regiment. Colonel Tucker 
being division officer of the clay and attending to his duties elsewhere, 
Major Doherty took command. As we were falling back, he said to me, 
" Sergeant-Major, where in h — 1 are the colors? " I replied that the color 
sergeant who was on furlough had left them in my tent. He then ordered 
me to return and get them. I went, in obedience to his orders, although 
it looked like a forlorn hope, but the colors must be saved at any cost. 
Having lost one stand of colors in the crater, we could poorly afford to 
lcse another here. As I returned, the enemy was in possession of our 
camp, but, under cover of darkness, I gained the tent, seized the colors, 
and you may be sure I did not wait to hold conversation with them, but 
for the time being was a professional "sprinter." I ran the gauntlet 
and, save being half frightened to death by the bullets whizzing around 



276 



FIKTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



my ears, reached the regiment in safety and turned the colors over to 
Sergeant Chase of Company H. 

History has told the story of the charge and well do those who were 
there remember the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Murdoch, Avho seized 
the flag from the color sergeant, and urging his men forward, was shot 
through the body, falling with the colors in his hand and dying almost 
immediately after. After the battle was over and we had regained our 
rami) once more, we found what was left nearly destroyed by the grape 
and canister from our own batteries on the hill in rear. The ground was 
strewn with the dead and dying "Johnnies," as the Confederates were 
familiarly called, who had so bravely fought us. While our loss had 
been heavy, theirs had been much heavier. 

The final result of the battle was that we won back all the positions 
from which we had been driven, besides a large number of prisoners and 
small arms, together with several battle-flags. The Fifty-Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, by a " singular poetic justice," captured the battle-flag of the 
57th North Carolina (rebel). Soon after the Stedman affair we were 
ordered into the main line of works near Battery 11 and Fort Stedman. 

It was while we were in this position that orders were issued for the 
29th, 57th and 5'Jth Massachusetts regiments to form a forlorn hope and 
charge the enemy in front of Fort Stedman. In order to accomplish 
this successfully it was necessary that the three lines of abatis in front of 
the enemy's lines should be cut away. One officer and forty men from the 
brigade were called upon to volunteer as axemen. Lieutenant James H. 
Marshall of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts volunteered to lead them. 
The time fixed was three o'clock in the morning. The axemen took posi- 
tion in front of the works and waited the order to advance. The three 
regiments had made preparations, each believing that few would escape 
being killed in such a foolhardy attempt to break the enemy's almost 
impregnable line. Most of the men gave the chaplain or quartermaster 
such valuables as they had on their persons to be sent home to their 
friends or relatives in case they should fail to return, but no man in the 
regiment thought of doing anything but his duty, and that was to obey 
orders faithfully, even if it cost him his life, lint the charge was never 
made, the order having been wisely countermanded. No movement was 
made on either side until the final attack from our left the day before 
the evacuation of Petersburg, when our troops repeatedly charged the 
enemy's lines. How well do we all remember the night before the 
evacuation, when the enemy opened all his batteries upon us, which were 

responded to by all the batteries on the Federal side, and for hours the 
heavens wen- a blaze of light from the burning fuse of hundreds of 
shrieking, bursting shells, it was a grand exhibition of the elements of 
war. Undercover of this demonstration, the enemy evacuated Peters- 
burg, and at the flrsl break Of day, our pickets found that instead of 



FORT STEDMAN. 277 

facing an army with which we had struggled for months, we were only- 
facing a line of vacant trenches. They had, after weary months of hard 
pounding, been at last flanked out from the left and we entered upon the 
closing chapter of that grand tragedy which had occupied the attention 
of the whole world for four long, bloody years. 

Fraternally yours, 

CHARLES H. PINKHAM, 

Late 2d Lieutenant Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, 

Brevet- Captain U.S. V. 

Chaplain Dashiell relates a sad incident of a young sergeant 
by the name of Wesley R. Williams of Company I, who had 
passed through every engagement with the regiment unhurt. 
Now, when the war seemed so near a close, with bright anticipa- 
tions of an early return to home and friends, he had a leg 
shattered in the engagement at Fort Stedman and was obliged to 
have it amputated. 

After Major Doherty fell, the regiment was commanded by 
Capt. A. W. Cooke. 

Capt. Henry C. Ward, formerly of the Fifty-Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, now a captain in the 16th Infantry, U S. Army, has 
written a paper giving an account of his capture on the picket 
line and his subsequent experience as a prisoner of war, which is 
well entitled to space in this history, together with the recent 
correspondence connected with the return of his sword : — 

The Night Attack on Fort Stedman, March 25th, 1SG5. 

On the 24th of March, 1865, I was detailed as brigade officer of the 
day, of the Third Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps, Army of 
the Potomac, and was in charge of the brigade pickets in front of 
Petersburg, Va., covering a line of more than a mile and a half. 

On account of the weakening of the Ninth Corps some days pre- 
vious, to reinforce the army on our left for a contemplated movement at 
that point, the brigade picket lines and the troops in the immediate 
front of Petersburg had been considerably reduced in numbers. This 
the Confederate commander had observed, and this was the occasion of 
the attack on Fort Stedman. 

The picket lines of the two armies were scarcely seventy-five yards 
apart, while the main lines were from 250 to 300 yards apart at this 
point. The main works of defense and the fortifications of the Con- 



278 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



federates were protected by strong lines of abatis and chevaux-de-frise 
and other obstructions well known in warfare. The pickets being so 
close together, the reliefs were placed after dusk. For some time there 
had been continued tiring on the picket lines at night, by both parties, to 
prevent repairs on their works caused by the artillery firing dining the 
day. At night many deserters also came in from the enemy, bringing 
their arms, equipments, etc. 

Upon my reporting to Brigadier-General McLaughlen, commanding 
the Third Brigade, for orders on the night of March 2-ith, 1865, he in- 
formed me that he had received orders to have all firing in his front at 
night stopped unless an attack was made, and directed me to attend to the 
matter; and as I was leaving him he called me back and remarked, that 
if I procured any rebel newspapers during the night, to send them to his 
headquarters in the morning. After dusk I stopped all firing on the 
lines. The night was unusually quiet. In passing down the lines I 
walked into a rebel picket and upon realizing my mistake, I begged his 
pardon and fled, without being fired upon. This was not an unusual 
occurrence, on account of the lines being zigzag and so close together. 

About three o'clock a.m., I heard some desultory shots almost di- 
rectly in front of Fort Stedman. and I proceeded there as rapidly as possi- 
ble. The picket informed me that something unusual was going on and 
that he felt just died in firing. 1 noticed an unusual noise in our front and 
crawled beyond our lines to investigate and reconnoiter, and saw that a 
corps of pioneers were removing the obstructions in front of the works 
of the enemy, and that troops were forming for attack, some of the men 
ha\ ing a white band on the arm to distinguish them in the dark. Upon 
making this discovery, I immediately crawled back into our lines and 
directed the firing of the pickets on the entire line and sent messengers 
to the commanding officer of the troops in Fort Stedman in my rear, 
that an attack was being made All at once a thin line of battle made 
its appearance in our front joined by the pickets of the enemy. I was 
knocked dow ii by a (dub or musket in the hands of a Confederate soldier. 
and taken by the guard to General Gordon, commanding the troop- of 
the enemy. I gave him my rank and duties of that night and declined to 
reply to questions in regard to Federal troops. At this time the main 
line of Confederates had not gone forward ; the guns from Fort Stedman 
had opened with one or two volleys, then ceased. Tlie Confederate 
Officers near me wen- iii-iu-' their men forward, telling them that t he 
first line of works had been captured, also a general officer. This was 
spread down the lines and the nun sprang out of the works across the 
lines. At this time the firing was general on both sides. 

At break of daj General McLaughlen and several others were 
broughl In as prisoners of war. The General told me that upon hearing 
the firing he jumped up, hastily dressing, and hurried Into the works, 



FORT STEDMAN. 279 

about one hundred yards from his quarters — that he observed iu the 
darkness a line of battle firing to the rear, and directed them to lire to 
their front, and proceeded to put the troops into position. At this 
juncture it was discovered that he was a Federal officer, and was 
immediately captured. It seems that he had been commanding rebel 
troops that had gotten iuto our line of -works. 

About seven o'clock a.m., some four hundred officers and men of 
our forces had been captured, and -we were marched off to the military 
prison in Petersburg. About eleven o'clock a.m., General Robert E. Lee 
arrived at the prison accompanied by an orderly, and I had some con- 
versation with him. I could get no information from our guards as to 
the result of the battle, but at four o'clock p.m. we were marched to 
the depot to embark for Richmond. Va. "We proceeded some Ave miles 
out of the city on the old railroad track in full view of our batteries, 
some two miles away. As soon as they discovered us, they opened tire 
on us. thinking Ave were the enemy, and thereby causing more alarm to 
our guards than to ourselves, for we then knew that our troops had been 
successful and that they held the entire line. 

We were loaded on passenger and freight cars and arrived at 
Richmond in the morning and marched through the streets to Libby 
Prison. A rather funny incident occurred a day or two after my arrival 
in the prison. The names of the captured officers were published in the 
Daily Dispatch and my name caught the eye of a friend, the wife of a 
tobacco merchant living iu the city. The next morning she called at the 
prison, accompanied by her servant, bearing a tray of lunch for me and a 
quilt. She was not allowed to see me, or to send up the food, and from 
my window I saw her, and my lunch, depart from the prison. Our food 
was not plentiful. It consisted of much bone, thinly covered with 
strips of very dark, tough meat. Some of the prisoners declared the 
meat to be the carcasses of the mules abandoned by the armies of the 
Peninsula. 

The officers decided to call for an interview with the commandant 
of the prison, Major Turner. He came and we showed him the beef and 
told him our story of hunger and suspicion of mule meat. He stated in 
reply that "the quality of rations furnished us was the same as that 
given the guard who guarded our prison, but that we did not have the 
quantity, as we were doing nothing, and did not require so much, and 
that it was necessary to economize." We replied that if what he stated 
was true we had nothing more to say. 

On April 2d, 1865 (Sunday), all the prisoners in Libby prison were 
marched to Rocketts to embark for the Federal lines. The city was 
being evacuated, supplies for the army were being destroyed and the Con- 
federate army north of the James river was being hurriedly transferred 
to the front of Petersburg. We could hear the guns of the army there 



280 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



very distinctly and we were satisfied that the war was being closed. 
The president of the Confederacy and his cabinet were also leaving the 
city, but they did not take the same direction that the prisoners of war did. 
We marched to the wharf singing patriotic songs, and as Ave passed 
down the river and by the Confederate gunboats, they were blown up. 
The view of the city, the explosion of war material, the property being 
destroyed by fire, etc., were grand. We were landed within some miles 
of the Federal pickets on the James river and proceeded to the head- 
quarters of the general commanding the troops and notified him that the 
city of Richmond was being evacuated. This was before daylight on the 
morning of April 3d, and at daylight these troops advanced and passed 
into the city without much opposition. We prisoners were all placed on 
Federal boats and taken down the river and within five days thereafter 
I had reported for duty with my regiment. After the war I Avas in 
command of Libby Prison and Major Dick Turner, the adjutant of the 
prison, and others who had been his assistants there when I was a 
prisoner, were now my prisoners. I afterward took Dick Turner's 
parole and released him. 

My sword, which was surrendered to the Confederate commander, 
General Gordon, when I was captured, was presented to me by the 
young ladies of Worcester, Massachusetts. My name and the date of 
presentation were engraved on the scabbard. After the election of the 
Democratic candidate (Cleveland) in November, 1892, and during the 
jollification in the South over a Democratic victory, my sword was re- 
turned to me and I received it on Christmas Day, 1892, nearly twenty- 
nine years after its capture. 

Cleveland, Rowan County, N.C. 
Nov. 26th, 1892. 
Captain H. C. Ward. 

Dear Sir : < »n the 26th of March, 18(55, I captured from an officer in 
front of Petersburg, Va., a sword. There is engraved on the upper band 
of the scabbard the following: "Presented to Lieutenant H. C. Ward, 
Company G, Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Veterans, by his 
friends. Worcester, March 28th, 18(>4." I have always intended to 
keep it as a memorial of the late contest, in which bravery was pitted 
againsl bravery, and noble men on both side- scaled with their blood 
their devotion to their country and in defense of their solemn convic- 
tions of duty. But as we have convincing proofs, as evidenced by the 
late election, that sectional bitterness is almost obliterated, and the fact 
thai Ave are brothers of one common country, purpose and high destiny, 
knowing no North, South, Fast or West, breaks upon our minds. I have 
concluded to return the sword to its proper owner, if to be found. 
Brave men of the •• Blue and the (J ray" have long since bridged the bloody 



KOKT STEDMAN. 281 

cliasm aud grasped hands in loving forgetfulness of the past; why is it 
that all others do not do the same and let us have a real union of hands 
and hearts as well as of country? I will send by express as soon as I 
can get your address. 

Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) PHIL. ALEXANDER. 

To which Captain Ward replies as follows : — 

Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 3d, 1892. 
Major Phil. Alexander. 

My Dear Major : I have your letter of the 26th ultimo, directed to 
H. C. Ward and forwarded to me by the postmaster of Worcester, Mass. 
At the battle of Fort Stedman before Petersburg, Va., about 3.30 a.m., 
I was captured while brigade officer of the day, and in command of the 
pickets on the lines of the Third Brigade, First Division of the Ninth 
Corps, Army of the Potomac. If my memory is correct, I was taken to 
General Gordon commanding the Confederate troops making the attack. 
I bad the sword referred to at the time of my capture, it having been 
presented to me by friends of mine. I was very glad to learn the where- 
abouts of the sword and also proud to hear that it has been in such 
brave and gallant hands. 

I most heartily endorse the sentiments expressed in your patriotic 
letter. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) HENRY C. WARD, 

Captain U.S. Army. 

On duty with Governor of Tennessee, 

in connection with National Guard. 

After having received the sword, Captain Ward made 
acknowledgment in the following words : — 

Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 26th, 1892. 
Major Phil. Alexander. 

My Dear Major: I received the sword yesterday and I wish to 
thank you for your kindness in the matter and the patriotic sentiments 
expressed in your very kind letter. I have many friends among those 
brave old soldiers who were in the Confederate army during the war. 
Long ago I believe all animosities were buried between the wearers of 
the " Blue and the Gray." 

I am very sincerely yours, 

HENRY C. WARD. 



282 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Maysfield, Texas, May 4th, 1893. 
Captain Ward. 

Dear Sir : Your favor of recent date in reference to the sword and 
its history, was received after being detained for some time by reason of 
being raissent. I heartily "wish that an opportunity may present itself 
that we may meet at some time and talk over our past experience as 
soldiers when we were deadly enemies (not personally), but now friends. 
endeavoring to build up our common country so as to make it the grandest 
and greatest the sun ever shone upon. 

Well, as to the details of the night attack upon Fort Stedman. in 
front of Petersburg, Ya.. I, perhaps, will not be able to give much Infor- 
mation. Subordinate officers knew but very little as to general plans of 
attack. 

Knowing, as General Lee must have known, the utter hopelessness 
of our situation, I have never understood why the attack was made only 
two or three days before our evacuation of our whole line. The day 
before there was a detail of picked men taken from our brigade which 
was immediately in front of Fort Stedman, and ordered to report for duty 
under the command of Colonel H. C. Jones (now of Charlotte. N.C.). 
Other troops were massed on the front and by four o*clock a.m., of 
March 26th, the whole line was put in motion. Colonel Jones' line of 
skirmishers cut the two lines of chevaux-de-frise and other obstructions, 
and captured the fort in gallant style. So complete was the surprise 
that very little resistance could be made. The main line, preceded by 
Colonel Jones, advanced several hundred yards beyond the fort after day- 
light, where the whole, or at least a large number, of Grant's batteries 
were brought to position, and poured forth such a fusilade of shot and 
-hell thai we retreated to the fort. There and then I had the most un- 
comfortable experience of the war. I have had some close calls before, 
but, had never felt as if my time were up. Now I began to think vero 
finis venerat. It seemed that a shell burst in our midsl every second. I 
happened to he near General Gordon when he issued orders to retreat to 
our own works and made up in\ mind not to wait for the regular channel 
of communication, through stall' officers, but •'called on feel bo save the 
body," and fchej responded quite lively, you may rest assured. 

I've often thought that none but an old soldier could fully experi- 
ence h"\\ -weet the calm, (pnet sense of security that crept over and took 
possession of the mind when, under such circumstances, he could sud- 
denly fall into a ditch or some other hole. He could then sit back and 
ruminate over the sentiments Virgil makes Tityrus say to Melibseus, 
I), us nobis hoec otia fecit. I forgot to say thai it was near daylight, and 
as I was passing up our line, about half way between our respective lines 
of defense, I came on the scene of your capture. You had already been 
disarmed and the "Johnnie Reb" who had rou In charge was iust on the 



FOKT STEDMAN. 283 

point of passing to the rear with you, -when he handed me your sword. 
Separated as we are by nearly thirty years from that eventful morning, 
the words that passed and some of the circumstances that took place at 
the time have passed into the ocean of forgetfulness. 

Some ten or twelve days from the time of the attack, after a series 
of marches and countermarches, fighting and retreating, the rank and 
tile of the Confederate veterans, begrimed with dirt and grease, and 
emaciated from hunger and loss of sleep, succumbed to superior force. 
Never did a truer or braver people surrender. The glory of their brilliant 
achievements, their invincible courage and daring bravery, are enshrined 
in the hearts of our old men and women, our young men and maidens. 
It will need no monuments of brass or tablets of marble to perpetuate 
their memory, because it will be handed down to succeeding generations 
as a precious heirloom, to be recounted around the firesides and family 
altars of their homes. General Gordon in his farewell address to his 
command said : " The cause for which we fought is lost, but the principle 
is immortal . . . . " 

Believe me, as ever, Yours truly, 

PHIL. ALEXANDER. 

Gen. R. E. Lee had but little to say about the battle and 
treated the matter as one of no great importance. Reporting 
upon it to the Confederate Secretary of War, John C. Brecken- 
ridge, under date of March 25th, 1865, he says: "At daylight 
this morning General Gordon assaulted and carried enemy's works 
at Hare's Hill (called Fort Stedman by the Federals) , captured 
nine pieces of artillery, eight mortars, between five and six hun- 
dred prisoners, among them one brigadier-general and a number 
of officers of lower grade. Enemy's lines were swept away for 
distance of four hundred or five hundred yards to right and left, 
and two efforts made to recover captured works were handsomely 
repulsed ; but it was found that the inclosed works in rear, com- 
manding enemy's main line, could only be taken at great sacrifice, 
and troops were withdrawn to original position. It being im- 
practicable to bring off captured guns, owing to nature of ground, 
they were disabled and left. Our loss reported is not heavy. 
Among wounded is Brigadier-General Terry, flesh wound, and 
Brig. -Gen. Phil. Cook, in arm. All the troops engaged, includ- 
ing two brigades under Brigadier-General Ransom, behaved most 
handsomely. The conduct of the sharpshooters of Gordon's corps. 



•284 



KIl TY-SEVENTH KEGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



who led the assault, deserves the highest commendation. This 
afternoon there was skirmishing on the right between the picket 
lines, with varied success. At dark enemy held considerable por- 
tion of the line furthest in advance of our main works." 

Ma j. -Gen. John B. Parke, commanding the Ninth Corps, 
submitted a report to the commander of the Army of the Potomac 
which we quote in part. The report is dated April 20th, 1865 : — 

I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations 
of my command in the action of March 25th ultimo. The line held by 
this corps extended from the Appomattox on the right, with pickets 
stretching some three miles down the river, to Fort Howard on the left, 
a distance of about seven miles. The line was occupied by the First 
Division, Brevet Major-General 0. B. Wilcox commanding, extending 
from the Appomattox to Fort Meikel, and the Second Division, Brevet 
Major-General R. B. Potter commanding, extending from Fort Meikel to 
Fort Howai-d. The Third Division, Brigadier-General J. F. Hartranft 
commanding, was held in reserve, its right regiment being posted near 
the Dunn House Battery, and its left regiment between Forts Hays and 
Howard. 

The intrenchments held by Wilcox's division and Potter's First 
Brigade, were very nearly as placed when the positions were originally 
gained by our troops, under lire, and in so close proximity to the enemy 
that the work was necessarily very defective. This was especially the 
case with Fort Stedman, where our lines crossed the Prince George 
Court House road. This is a small work without bastions, with Battery 
No. 10 Immediately adjoining, the battery open in the rear, and the ground 
in rear of the fort nearly as high as its parapet. The opposing lines 
are here about one hundred and fifty yards apart, the picket lines about 
fifty yards. This portion of the line was held by the Third Brigade, 
First Division, Brevet Brigadier-General N. B. McLaughlen commanding. 
About 4.30 o'clock on the morning of March 25th, last, the enemy 
assaulted this front with Gordon's Corps, reinforced by Bushrod 
Johnson's division. At 1 a.m. the picket line had been visited by the 
captain of the picket, who found the men on the alert and discovered no 
sinus of movement by the enemy. 

Taking advantage of the order allowing deserters to bring their 
arms with them, the enemy sent forward squads of pretended deserters, 
who, by this ruse, gained possession of several of the picket posts. 
They were closely followed by a Strong Storming party of picked men, 
this by three heavy columns. The picket line was overpowered after 
one discharge of their pieces. The trench guard, though stoutly resist- 
ing, was unable to withstand the rush of numbers, and the mainline was 
broken between Batteries 9 and in, near No. 10. 



FORT STEDMAN. 285 

The enemy turned to the right and left hand, the right column soon 
gaining Battery 10, which is open in the rear, thus acquiring great 
advantage for an assault on Fort Stedmau. The garrison of Fort 
Stedman, consisting of a battalion of the 14th New York Heavy Artillery, 
under Major Randall, made a spirited resistance, but being attacked in 
front, flank and rear, was overpowered and most of it captured. The 
artillery in the fort, consisting of four light 12's, discharged a dozen 
rounds of canister before being taken. These guns, as well as those in 
Battery 10, were at once turned upon us. The enemy then pushed 
gradually along the lines toward Fort Haskell, driving out the troops 
holding Batteries 11 and 12, neither of which are inclosed works. It 
was still quite dark, which circumstance greatly augmented the diffi- 
culty of formation to check the progress of the enemy, it being almost 
impossible to distinguish between friend and foe, and made the use of 
artillery upon them impracticable at any distance. At the first alarm 
General McLaughlen sent members of his staff to the various positions 
on his front, and himself proceeded to Fort Haskell, thence along the 
line to Stedman. He found that our troops had been driven from 
Battery 11. He directed Mortar Battery 12 to open on it, and sent for 
the 59th Massachusetts, and on its arrival recaptured Battery 11 by a 
bayonet charge. He then proceeded to Fort Stedman and was there 
taken prisoner. 

As soon as it became evident at my headquarters that the enemy 
were attacking, I despatched aides-de-camp to communicate with Generals 
Wilcox and McLaughlen, ordered General Hartranft to concentrate his 
right brigade and reinforce General Wilcox, and ordered General Tidball, 
chief of artillery, to place his reserve batteries in position on the hills in 
rear of the point attacked. On receiving a report from General Wilcox 
and from members of my own staff, of the state of afl'airs, I ordered up 
General Hartranft's other brigade, informed General Wilcox that he 
would be reinforced by the Third Division, and directed him to at once 
reoccupy the works taken. General Hartranft concentrated his division 
with commendable promptitude, his left regiment having to move a 
distance of live miles, he, in the meantime, promptly and gallantly 
attacking with a regiment of his right brigade, the 200th Pennsylvania, 
assisted by detachments from McLaughlen's and Ely's brigades, of 
Wilcox's division, checking the enemy's skirmishers who were ad- 
vancing towards Meade's Station, and driving them back to the line of 
works. 

The column of the enemy which turned to the left hand, after 
entering our line, proceeded along the trenches in the direction of 
Battery No. 9, taking the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts in flank and rear, 
and driving them from the trenches. The left of the 2d Michigan, the 
left regiment of Ely's brigade, of Wilcox's division, was also somewhat 
broken, but the regiment promptly rallied and fought the enemy over the 



286 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS VOLUNTEERS. 



traverses so stoutly that time was gained to bring up reinforcemeuts 
from the right of the brigade and form a strong line perpendicular to 
the intrenchments, with right resting near Battery 9. This line of 
troops, assisted by the artillery from Xo. 9, No. 5 and McGilvery. 
repulsed, with loss, a heavy assault on Battery 9, and stopped all farther 
advance of the enemy in that direction. The picket line was held up to a 
point to the left of Battery 9 throughout the engagement. 

The rebel column which moved from Fort Stedman toward Fort 
Haskell met with no better success. It gained temporary possession of 
Mortar Batteries 11 and 12, but the garrisons of those works, the 29th 
Massachusetts and 100th Pennsylvania, quickly rallied on the left, and 
formed, in conjunction with troops withdrawn from his left by Colonel 
Harriman, commanding First Brigade, Wilcox's division, a line perpen- 
dicular to the intrenchments, connecting on their right with Hartranft's 
troops and Avith left resting near Fort Haskell, checking all farther 
progress of the enemy, and slowly driving him back. He made several 
desperate assaults on Fort Haskell, but was bloodily repulsed. At 7.:'>n 
a.m. the position of affairs was this: we had regained Batteries 11 and 
12 and had drawn a cordon of troops around Fort Stedman and Battery 
in. forcing the masses of the enemy back into those works where they 
were exposed to, and suffered greatly from, a concentrated tire from all 
the artillery in position bearing on those points and the reserve batteries 
<ni the hill in rear. This cordon was composed of Hartranft's division, 
with regiments from McLaughlen's and Ely's brigades on either flank 

General Ilartranl't, to whom I had confided the task of recapturing 
the fort, made his dispositions with great coolness and skill, and at 
about 7.45 a.m. advanced his whole line. His troops, the vast majority 
of them new men. for the flrsl time under lire, charged with great spiril 
and resolution, the veterans on the Hanks behaving with their accustomed 
gallantry, and carried the fort with comparatively small loss. The Cl'OSS 
infantry and artillery lire upon the space between the opposing lines 
deterred many of the enemy from attempting to escape, and caused 
severe loss unions those who made the trial Nineteen hundred and 

forty-nine pris rs, including seventy-one commissioned officers, nine 

stand of colors and many small anus, fell into our hands. The whole 

line taken from us was at once reoccupied ami all damage repaired during 
the following night. We lost no guns or colors. 

Signed) JNO. G. PARKE, 

Major-Gt m ral ( 'ommanding. 

< 'olonel I rEORGE 1 >. RUGGl I 8 

Assistant Adjutant- Gi m r<il . Aruuj •>/ the. P<>(i>nt<te. 

The following is the report submitted by Gen. 0. B. Wilcox, 
commanding the Firsl Division of the Ninth Corps, not quoted in 

lull: — 



fort stedman. 287 

Headquarters First Division, Ninth Army Corps. 

Colonel: At -4.15 o'clock on the morning of the 25th ultimo, the 
enemy attacked the intrenchments held by the Third Brigade of this 
division. The brigade picket officer. Captain Burch, 3d Maryland, 
reports that he visited the picket line at four o'clock of that a m. and 
saw that the men were on the alert. After visiting the line he returned 
to his headquarters in front of Fort Stedman and Battery No. 11. He 
states that in a few minutes after his return a man on the lookout gave 
notice that the enemy Avere approaching. At the same time the men on 
the post fired their pieces. One column moved toward the right of 
Battery No. 10, a second column moved toward a point between Fort 
Stedman and Battery No. 11, a third column moved direct toward Fort 
Stedman. These columns were preceded by a strong storming party, 
which broke through the pickets, clubbing their muskets, and made open- 
ings in the abatis. 

The trench guards made sufficient resistance to arouse the garrisons 
of the enclosed works in the immediate neighborhood, but the column 
which struck to the right of Battery No. 10 quickly succeeded in break- 
ing through and effecting an entrance into that battery, which is entirely 
open in the rear. This success gave them a great advantage over Fort 
Stedman, as the ground just in rear of Battery No. 10 is on a level with 
the parapet of the fort. The fort had also a comparatively small line of 
infantry parapet; particularly was this the case in front, which was cut 
up with embrasures for artillery. The garrison of the fort consisted of 
a detachment of the 14th New York Heavy Artillery, under Major 
Randall, and made quite a spirited resistance, but were finally over- 
powered and most of them captured. 

The commanding officer of the brigade, Brevet Brigadier-General 
N. B. McLaughlen, had reached Battery No. 11 from his headquarters 
before this, and gave some directions about the disposition of the troops 
on the left flank. The guns and even the mortars, in both Stedman and 
Battery No. 11, were used against the enemy. Detachments of the 
1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, at the mortars, behaved very hand- 
somely. 

General McLaughlen was captured near the gorge of the fort, but 
whether after the enemy got in, or while they were attacking, is 
unknown. Captain Swords, ordnance officer on my staff and division 
staff officer of the day, also reached Ford Stedman from these head- 
quarters before it was fully in the enemy's possession, and was captured 
at the fort. The right column, with the aid of troops from Fort Sted- 
man, now succeeded in gaining Battery No. 11. Their left column turned 
down the works to their left, towards Battery No. 9, taking the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts in the trenches in flank and rear, capturing a part 
of them. The remainder retired to the rear, reassembled and afterward 
did good work as skirmishers, with General Hartranft's troops. The 2d 



288 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Michigan fought the enemy on this flank from their bomb-proofs and 
traverses in the most spirited manner until they "were drawn in by order 
of their brigade commander, Brevet Colonel Ralph Ely, to Battery No. 9, 
which, though small, is an enclosed work. 

In pursuance with my orders Colonel Ely deployed, perpendicular 
to and to the rear of his intrenchments. a portion of the 1st Michigan 
Sharpshooters as skirmishers, promptly taking them from the right of 
our line for this purpose. I also directed him to press the enemy on his 
left as much as possible. Finding themselves opposed in this direction, 
the enemy halted for more of their troops to come up, and the ground 
vacated by the 2d Michigan remained unoccupied by either party. The 
enemy's skirmishers now came down the hill directly to the rear of 
Stedman, and moved toward my headquarters at the Friend House, the 
Dunn House Battery, and in the direction of Meade's Station, and this, 
for a time, rendered my communication with the Third Brigade long and 
circuitous. Meantime, I had ordered out the 17th Michigan engineer 
regiment at my headquarters, and sent word to the commanding officers 
of the 200th and 209th Pennsylvania, encamped between Meade's Station 
and Dunn House Battery, to move respectively, one to the Friend House, 
the other in front of the Dunn House Battery. These regiments promptly 
appeared. 

Brigadier-General Hartranft, commanding the Third Division, now 
came up in person, and I requested him to move his available force direct 
upon the fort. He promptly and gallantly took command of the two 
regiments already out, without waiting for the rest of his command. I 
ordered the 17th Michigan to deploy as skirmishers on his right. This 
regiment, with only one hundred men in its ranks, under command of 
Major Mathews, moved forward at the same time with General 
Hartranft's line, capturing most of the enemy's skirmishers in their 
front, about twenty-five in number, and inclining to the right, connected 
with the skirmishers of Ely's brigade. 

WTlile Hartranft was operating in rear of Stedman the enemy's 
force, which bad moved down towards Battery 'J and halted, was 
reinforced by Hansom's brigade, and opened an attack upon that battery. 
This attack was handsomely repulsed by my skirmishers and troops of 
the Second Brigade in Battery No. '.», assisted by the artillery, particularly 
one piece of Etoemer'S battery, under .Major IJoemer himself. 

The enemy attempted to retreat back to his own intrenchments, 
when they were charged by detachments of the 2d Michigan, who 
captured some prisoners. Troops of the 20th and 2d Michigan 
also threw themselves into the picket line of the Second Brigade, ami 
poured BUCh a lire (in the llanks of the retreating enemy that over three 
hundred threw down their arm- ami surrendered themselves <>n the spot. 
<>n our left the enemy proceeded through the trenches, driving before 
them the 29th Massachusetts, B small regiment, which made the best 




CHARLES H. PINKHAM, 

2d Lieut. 57th Mass., Bvt. Capt. U.S. Vols. 



FORT STEDMAN. 289 

resistance it could, over its traverses and works, being attacked in front, 
rtank and rear. 

From Battery No. 11 they proceeded toward Battery No. 12 in the 
same manner, killing, wounding and capturing a part of the 100th 
Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. In this attack Colonel Pentecost, 
commanding 100th Pennsylvania, was mortally wounded A part of this 
regiment was deployed as skirmishers in the rear, and a part went into 
Fort Haskell. Brevet Colonel Robinson took a part of the 3d Maryland 
from a portion of his line on the left of Haskell and deployed it on the 
left of the skirmish line of the 100th Pennsylvania. Soon afterward 
Colonel Robinson, by my direction, assumed command of the Third 
Brigade. 

Hartranft's line advanced rapidly, enveloping the rear of the works. 
The 17th Michigan, on the extreme right, dashed forward and gained the 
trenches lately occupied by the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, but now 
held by the enemy, capturing prisoners on that side. The retreat of the 
enemy was soon cut off by the troops of this division gaining the rear of 
the main body along the parapet of the works, and a large number of 
prisoners and some colors were captured by the troops of both divisions. 
One thousand and five prisoners, besides some of the wounded, fell into 
the hands of my own command, also seven stand of the enemy's colors, 
together with one of our own flagstaffs recaptured. It was found on 
regaining our works that the enemy, while they held possession of them, 
were not able to carry off or effect any damage on our artillery, which 
they temporarily held and partially used against Battery No. 9 and Fort 
Haskell. They carried one Coehorn mortar over the parapet, but it Avas 
regained, and not the least damage was inflicted on any of the guns or 
gun carriages. No colors or guns were lost by us. 

The following are the names of the captors of enemy's colors in 
this Division : . . . . Sergeant Major C. H. Pinkham, Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts Volunteers 

I also forward herewith the reports of the commanders of the 
Second and Third Brigades, and respectfully call attention to the recom- 
mendations for gallantry therein contained. Of my own staff, all of 
whom were active throughout the engagement, I would honorably men- 
tion Captain L C. Brackett, Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, 
for gallantry in assisting in the charge of the Third Division 

I am, very respectfully, 

O. B. WILCOX, 
Colonel P. M. Lydig, Brevet Major-General Commanding. 

Assistant Adjutant-General, Ninth Aravj Corps. 

N. B. I also append the report of Brevet Brigadier-General N. B. 
McLaughlen, which, as seen from the date, was received subsequent to 
the writing of the above report. . O. B. WILCOX. 

Brevet Major-General Commanding. 

19 



290 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Following this we cop} T in full the report of Bvt. Brig. -Gen. 
N. B. McLaughlen, Colonel Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, who commanded the Third Brigade, First Division of the 
Ninth Corps, until taken prisoner as heretofore related, made 
while a paroled prisoner of war : — 

Parole Camp. 
Annapolis, Md., April 4th, 1S65. 

Major : I have the honor to report the part taken by me in the fight 
at Fort Stedman, March 25th. until captured, which occurred just before 
daylight. 

On hearing the noise of the attack that morning I awoke my staff' 
and dispatched them to various parts of the line to get the troops under 
arms, and proceeded myself to Fort Haskell, garrisoned by a battalion of 
the 14th New York Heavy Artillery, whom I found on the alert and 
ready to resist an attack. I then turned down the line to the right, 
passing the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who were already in their 
works, and Battery 12, finding everything right, and reached the mortar 
battery No. 11, in which were no guns, and which was occupied by the 
29th Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers. Here I found Major Richardson 
of that regiment, who told me that the battery was in the enemy's hands. 
and that his command had just been driven from it. I at once sent 
orders to the 59th Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers, the only regiment 
of my brigade not in the line, of works, to report to me at double quick, 
and to Battery 12 to turn their mortars on Battery 11, which was clone, 
three shots being fired. On the arrival of the 59th, I put them into the 
work with fixed bayonets and recaptured it at once. Supposing that I 
had restored the only break in the liue, I crossed the parapet into Fort 
Stedman on the right, and meeting some men coming over the curtains, 
whom in the darkness I supposed to be a part of the picket, I estab- 
lished them inside the work, giving directions with regard to position 
and firing, all of which were instantly obeyed. In a few minutes I saw 
a man crossing the parapet, whose uniform, in the dawning light, I 
recognized to be the enemy's, and I halted him, asking his regiment. 
This called attention to myself and the next moment 1 was surrounded 
by the rebels, whom I had supposed to be my men. and sent to the rear, 
where 1 found General Cordon, to whom I delivered my sword, and was 
sent by him to Petersburg. While standing by General Gordon four 
brigades moved forward toward our works, their commanders reporting 
to him. While there, Captain Swords of the First Division stall' was 
brought up, having been captured in Fort Stedman, where lie had been 
directed in search of me, ami also Lieutenant Sturgls of my statr whom 

I hail sent to the left and ordered to report to me at Fort Stedman. 
From Petersburg] was senl by rail the same day to Libby Prison, at 



FOKT STEDMAN. 291 

Richmond, Va , and remained there until the afternoou of April 2d, 
when I, with the other officers confined there, was paroled and sent to 
this place, via Fortress Monroe, where we arrived this morning. 

There were sixteen officers of niy brigade captured besides myself, 
and about 480 enlisted men, all of whom were paroled. I have not the 
slightest fault to find with any of the troops of my command. All were 
vigilant and on the alert, both officers and men, and all was done that lay 
within the bounds of possibility. The enemy, aware of the recent order 
allowing deserters to bring in their arms, approached my picket line under 
that disguise, in small squads, and thus surprised the pickets, capturing 
them without any alarm being given. I would say further, that I have 
personal knowledge that there were three divisions massed to break my 
brigade line, those of Johnson and Gordon making the attack, and the 
third being held in reserve, with cavalry and batteries in support. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

N. B. McLAUGHLEN, 
Brevet Brigadier-General, U.S. V., 
Commanding 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Army Corps. 

To Brevet-Major William V. Richards, 
A.A.G. 1st Div., 9th Army Corps, 
Before Petersburg, Va. 

Col. Gilbert P. Robinson, Third Maryland Volunteers, was 
assigned to the command of the brigade after General McLaughlen 
had been taken prisoner, and made the following report which we 
give in part : — 

Headquarters Third Brigade, First Division, 
Ninth Army Corps, March 28th, 1865. 
Sir: About 3.30 a.m., March 25th, the enemy advanced in several 
columns upon the cluster of artillery positions known as Fort Stedman, 
Batteries 10, 11 and 12. The garrisons of these portions of the line were 
alarmed by the officers and men of the picket and trench guard, and were 
immediately in line prepared for attack. The enemy's skirmishers, ad- 
vancing with clubbed muskets and with their bayonets, broke the picket 
line in front of Fort Stedman and advanced to the abatis. The 14th New 
York Artillery and the 29th Massachusetts Volunteers, the garrisons of 
Stedman, 10 and 11, were under arms and made a stout resistance. At 
about 4 a.m. General McLaughlen proceeded to the lines, sending one aide 
to the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts to order them into line, another to 
the left of the brigade to see that they were on the alert and prepared 
for action, and taking another with him. Shortly after the General left, 
a messenger from Battery 11, closely followed by one from Fort Stedman, 
communicated the facts of the case to brigade headquarters, and the 59th 



292 



FII TY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Massachusetts was directed to attack at Battery 11 with vigor and carry 
it at the point of the bayonet if captured, and reinforce the works if not. 
The Fifty-Seventh was directed to advance similarly on Fort Stedmau. 

After about an hour's desperate fighting, in which the works were 
carried back and forth several times, the troops were compelled to retire, 
part in the direction of Fort Haskell, and part toward the railroad. The 
100th Pennsylvania had meantime been deployed at right angles with their 
line of works, covered with a line of skirmishers, but being unable to 
stem the torrent, divided, three companies going to the old line of works 
in the rear of their camp, and the remainder to Fort Haskell. A skirmish 
line of the 3d Maryland Battalion had meantime been thrown out, well 
supported, and upon this portions of the brigade were rallied, and this 
line prevented the result the enemy evidently had in view, of taking Fort 
Haskell in reverse. The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts had meantime 
been forced back to the ridge near Battery Dunn, but there made head 
against the enemy. Before six o'clock the 208th Pennsylvania, which 
had been sent to our assistance from the Third Division, was put in near 
brigade headquarters and advanced to the old line of works in rear of 
the camp of the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and shortly after other 
reinforcements came from the direction of Meade's Station. 

The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts deployed as skirmishers, ad- 
vanced, covering this line, and by a succession of brilliant skirmish 
charges recovered the slope on which their camp had stood and the crest 
above it overlooking Fort Stedmau. At this time (about 8.30 a.m.), it 
was noticed that the frequent slight advantages we had been gaining since 
the artillery positions were carried had discouraged the enemy, and that 
even a dash of ;i skirmish line would break a partially formed line of 
battle, and it was resolved to make a determined effort to recover the 
works. 

At this time I received notice from General Ilartrant't that he was 
advancing and would carry the works in fifteen minutes, but catching 
sight of the approaching line, seeing the demoralized condition of the 
enemy, and fearful that a large amount of prisoners mighl be lost by 
longer delay, it was determined to dash on the enemy at once, and the 
troops collected at the left, consisting of the Largest pan id' the 8d 
.Maryland Battalion, the 100th Pennsylvania, fragments of the 29th ami 
B9th Massachusetts, the Fort Haskell battalion of the New York Artillery 
and what was left, of the Fori Stedman battalion, charged up the line 
and along the works, carrying the trenches and batteries as far as Fort 
Stedman, into which almost Immediately, from a direction about perpen- 
dicular to the line of our charge, came a portion of the Third Division. 

By 9 i.m. i lie li C works was in our possession again, with all its 

artillery. From the time of tic- Brsl assault until the close, the artillery 

at Fori Haskell was piled with vigor, and was \er\ effective, and the 



FORT STEDMAN. 293 

-well directed infantry fire and the noble courage of the men, in and 
around the fort, baffled every attempt to assault it. 

Battery 12 (First Connecticut Heavy Artillery) kept up an effective 
Are during the early part of the engagement, and the gun detachments 
kept well at the front after being driven out, and went up in the charge 
which gave us the line anew, at once reoccupying the battery and serving 
the mortars. . . . 

The service will mourn the loss of Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Pente- 
cost, 100th Pennsylvania, whose cool, good conduct first checked the 
current of overwhelming disaster, and of Captain James Doherty, Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, commissioned and acting as major of that 
regiment, whose determined courage and excellent disposition greatly 
delayed the advance of the enemy toward the railroad. Both of these 
officers (since dead) should be brevettecl for their gallantry this day. I 
have the honor to mention the following officers and enlisted men for 
praise for deeds set against their names, and to reiterate the eulogiums 
of their regimental commanders. 



Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. 

Sergeant-Major C. H. Pinkham, captured battle-flag of 57th North 
Carolina and saved his own colors by seizing them from the staff while 
the enemy were in the camp. 

First Sergeant George Adams, Company G, wounded for the 
fifteenth time. 

First Sergeant Charles S. Chase, Company H, general good con- 
duct, and Sergeant John O'Donnell, Company A. 

Sergeant William F. Oakes, Company K (acting officer), for saving 
Captain Doherty when wounded, and First Sergeant William Magner, 
Company B. 

Sergeant Wesley R. Williams, Company I (wounded), general 
bravery, and Corporal F. S. Cheney, Company C (killed). 

General McLaughlen was captured about 4.30 a.m., but I was not 
notified of the fact till about 6 a.m., when I assumed command of the 
brigade. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

GILBERT P. ROBINSON, 
Brevet Colonel, United States Volunteers. 
Major William V. Richards, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, First Division. 



294 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Lieut. -Col. J. M. Tucker, commanding the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts, submitted the following report of the regiment in 
this affair : — 

Camp of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Vol. Inf., 
Before Petersburg, Va., March 27th, 1865. 

( 'aptain ; I have the honor to submit the following report of the 
operations of ray command in the engagement with the enemy of the 
25th : — 

At the sound of unusually heavy musketry the command formed 
line of battle near its camp, about 4 a.m. Escaped pickets reported the 
enemy in heavy force in possession of the line of works in our front, and 
Companies G and K were deployed forward as skirmishers, the regiment 
advancing to the attack, the enemy advancing simultaneously and in the 
darkuess effecting the capture of a portion of right wing of skirmish 
line. Information having been received of the lodgment made by the 
enemy in Fort Stedman, the skirmishers were withdrawn, and the regi- 
ment moved to the rear of the fort with intention of attempting its 
recapture by assault; but the appearance of the enemy on both Hanks 
forced a retirement, which was conducted in good order. The enemy's 
advance was checked by the regiment in four positions, successively 
taken up while in line of retreat, but from all of which it was compelled 
to retire by repeated demonstration on its flanks. 

The crest overlooking the plain now presented the best possible 
defensive position, and the battery at its summit, the possession of 
Which was evidently the enemy's object, and which would have given 
him an incalculable advantage, was entirely without support. The regi- 
ment accordingly took up position in its rear; subsequently was de- 
ployed as skirmishers to cover advance of portion of Third Division. 
Ninth Army Corps, and moved forward, the enemy's skirmishers precipi- 
tately withdrawing. Successive charges were made to recover the camp 
of the regiment, the third of which was rewarded by most complete 
success, tin 1 enemy lleeimc in helpless disorganization or surrendering a> 
prisoners of war. 

The numerical and nominal casualty lists have already been for- 
warded you, imt the irreparable loss to the regiment and the service in 
the death of Captain .lames Doherty, acting Held officer, and under whose 
Immediate supervision the operations of the regimenl were mainly con- 
ducted, deserves more particular mention in this report. Hy most 
conspicuous bravery invariably displayed, by tlie complete subordination 
of bis every regard for his personal safety in action, to his efforts to 
secure victory, by his remarkable executive ability and tactical skill, he 
had long since achieved a reputation as a mosl reliable, brilliant and in- 
valuable officer, ami in consideration of the pre-eminent display of these 



FORT STEDMAN. 



295 



qualities on the 25th, and of the large contribution to the gratifying 
result made by his efforts, I earnestly recommend that promotion by 
brevet or otherwise be awarded his name. 

First Lieutenant Albert M. Murdock, killed with the colors of the 
regiment in his hands, which he had grasped to lead a charge, deserves 
especial mention for gallantry. 

To every officer of the command present in the action I know that 
honorable mention for distinguished services is due, but as they are a unit 
co-operated in the execution of the movements resulting so successfully 
so to them collectively do I confer my obligations. 

The following enlisted men were observed as conducting themselves 
bravely and performing specific acts of gallantry, enumerated below, 
viz. : — 

Sergeant-Major Charles H. Pinkham, captured battle flag of Fifty- 
Seventh North Caroliua (rebel) ; saved colors of his regiment from cap- 
ture, seizing them from a tent after the enemy had entered the regi- 
mental camp. 

First Sergeant George Adams, Company G, conspicuous bravery on 
skirmish line, receiving his fifteenth wound, continuing with regiment 
after being wounded. 

First Sergeant Charles S. Chase, Company H, acting color sergeant, 
general good conduct. 

Sergeant John O'Donnell, Company A, rallying and encouraging 
his men ; had participated in every engagement with his company and 
regiment since its entry into service. 

Sergeant William F. Oakes, Company K (missing in action and 
acting lieutenant), gallantry while in command of portion of skirmish 
line ; carried Captain Doherty to rear ; resisted attempt of enemy to kill 
him (Doherty) after being taken prisoner. 

First Sergeant William Magner, Company B, general bravery. 

Sergeant Wesley R. Williams, Company I (wounded), general 
bravery. 

Corporal Frederick S. Cheney, Company C (killed), color corporal, 
general bravery. 

I am, Captain, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. M. TUCKER, 

Lieutenant- Colonel Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts 
Volunteer Infantry Commanding Begiment. 

Captain Thomas W. Clarke, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, 

Third Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps. 



296 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



These reports give as good description of this engagement, 
in brief, as an} 7 that has been made in history. One of the most 
reliable of American historians, Lossiug, falls into great error in 
saying (Page 537, Vol. III., "History of the Civil War") that 
upon the charge of the enem} T , "the gnns, abandoned without a 
struggle, were immediately turned upon our redoubts near, known 
as Batteries Nine, Ten and Eleven, and the connecting line of in- 
trenchments, compelling their instant vacation." The descriptions 
of this battle, given by eye-witnesses, and official reports, do not 
justify the statement that "guns were abandoned without a 
struggle." In every place a heroic struggle was made until the 
overwhelming force of the assailants gained either the Hank or 
rear of a position, which was then only abandoned to gain a more 
advantageous ground upon which to make a more effective resist- 
ance. 

We think the same author makes another error on the same 
p:i Lie, where he says, speaking of the first onslaught : " That was 
the moment when Lee's army might have passed through and 
crowned the hill in the rear witli their guns and men. It did 
not and the golden moment was lost forever. The troops were 
not ordered forward, or failed to respond." 

This is a mere matter of opinion which does not appear based 
upon good grounds. We admit that it could have been dom.' if 
the Federal troops had remained passive, but they did not. 
Though surprised at first, they quickly recovered from it. Other 
troops following those that had already charged, could not 
have helped matters in the least, even if they had reached our 
lints with unbroken ranks, which would have been almost an im- 
possibility, under the severe cross lire from our guns to the right 
and left of those on the hill in rear. Even if General Gordon's 
infantry had gained this hill, it would have been beyond all reason 
to suppose that their artillery could have been brought forward 

through our works, ami over all the obstructions that stood in the 
way. Under the heavy tire which they would have to pass, not a 
battery horse could have lived to cross the space between the 
lines. Our ground was so broken up into trenches, batteries, 
redoubts, covered ways, etc., that infantry soon losl al] formation 



FORT 9TEDMAN. 297 

and were unable to move forward in anything like order. Had 
General Gordon succeeded in capturing the hill referred to, he 
would have been without adequate defences and artillery, and he 
would not have been able to hold it long with the whole Federal 
army concentrating upon him ; and, instead of surrendering a 
part, he would eventually have been forced to surrender his whole 
force. 

Neither was there any lack of " promptness " on either side ; 
both acted with the greatest celerity. It must be remembered 
that it was very dark, and confusion, to those not acquaiuted 
with the intricacies of our defence, was inevitable. The most that 
General Lee had hoped for was that General Gordon might 
possibly gain and hold an advantage until daylight, when he could 
move his whole army through the breach, move south and join the 
army under General Johnston. He was fully aware that General 
Grant was making preparations for a grand move, with a largely 
superior force, which would render his position around Petersburg 
untenable. His army had already been stretched out to protect his 
right from the attacks that were constantly falling upon it, until 
it could stand no further stretching without breaking ; and again 
his source of supplies was being cut off and it was evident that he 
must soon abandon his position. This was his dernier resort and 
with its failure faded the last ray of hope which he might have 
entertained. 

Looking at the affair from a military standpoint, we must 
say that it was a brilliant feat of arms upon the part of the Con- 
federates. Their troops were ably commanded and gallantly led. 
They did all that it was possible for brave men to do, even if 
they did suffer defeat. It was simply an impossibility, under the 
conditions that existed, for them to succeed. We fail to see 
where any mistakes were made on either side. No student of 
military science can point out anything that was left undone that 
could by any possibility have been done. Critics only show 
their ignorance of the situation, and military matters in general, 
when they attempt it. "When criticism falls upon the Confederate 
leader, we have only to saj T , "Put yourself in his place.'* In 
him there was neither lack of courage or generalship. 



298 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



General Parke, who commanded all the troops engaged, very 
justly gave General Hartranft great praise "for the skill and 
gallantry displayed in handling his troops," while General Meade 
issued an order congratulating General Parke for his success and 
praising the firm bearing of the troops. 

In General Grant's report of the engagement of Fort Sted- 
man, he says: "At 4.15 a.m. the enemy assaulted our centre in 
front of Fort Stedman, which they carried after a stubborn 
resistance on the part of the garrison. The division * temporarily 
lost possession of one enclosed work and a battery, but holding 
the rest of its line steadily, at first was entirely occupied in repel- 
ling the repeated attacks of the enemy on other points, and 
finally assuming the offensive, with the help of the Third 
Division, Ninth Corps, pressed the enemy and recaptured the 
works they had lost at 8.30 a.m., without the loss of a gun or 
color." 

This fails to confirm Lossing's statement, heretofore referred 
to, that " The assailants met no resistance." 

At the time of this engagement, President Lincoln was 
visiting General Grant at his headquarters at City Point, where 
he passed the night and arrived on the lines in time to witness 
the last charge of the Federal troops from the crest near the 
Dunn House Battery. 



' Referring to the First Division of the Ninth Corps. — .1. A. 



*j£~- * Mfe <»" ^ 





A. W. COOKE, 

Capt. 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER XIV. 




NEARIXG THE END. 

IRECTLY after the battle of Fort Stedman, Lieut. - 
Col. J. M. Tucker was granted a short leave of 
absence and the regiment was commanded by Capt. 
A. W. Cooke, until the morning of April 3d, when 
the latter was detailed on the staff of Col. James 
Bintliff , commanding Third Brigade of the First Division 
as Assistant Provost Marshal. Capt. George E. Barton 
succeeded Captain Cooke in command. 

The battle of Fort Stedman was one of those spasmodic 
efforts which often precede the final dissolution, yet the Con- 
federate Army of Northern Virginia was destined to die hard. 
Every indication now pointed to an early evacuation of Peters- 
burg, but where the enemy would go, or what he would do, no 
one could conjecture. Knowing that there was plenty of fight 
still left in him, all felt that the result would not be reached 
without another severe struggle, but few dreamed that the much 
desired end was so near. Although the Fifty- Seventh partici- 
pated in the general operations which terminated in the final 
surrender, Fort Stedman was their last battle. 

General Grant still persevered in his original plan of turning 
the right flank of the enemy. It was hoped that by swinging the 
army far enough around to the left, the Confederates would not 
be able to dig trenches fast enough to keep pace with it, and 
some point must eventually be reached where they would be 
forced out. Their main line was too strong to admit of a direct 
assault. It had been strengthened and protected by every device 
known to engineering skill, and even torpedoes placed beneath the 
surface of the ground in front, over which an attacking column 



300 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



would have to pass. Three lines of abatis and chevaux-de-frise 
and deep, broad ditches to cross before the parapets could be 
scaled, rendered their works so strong that a small force could 
hold them against many times their number. What was true of 
their line was also true of ours, with this difference, that we were 
the assailants, but, as it required comparatively few men to hold 
the intrenched lines, General Grant was enabled to take a large 
force to operate on Lee's right. The order which had been issued 
for the movements to commence on the 29th, had not been 
changed, and the entire Army of the Potomac was ordered to be 
ready to move at a moment's notice. 

All the surplus baggage and stores were sent to the depot at 
City Point for storage and every preparation made for the coming 
campaign. The order in detail was issued March 27th. The 
march commenced on the 29th with General Sheridan in com- 
mand of all the cavalry, who was ordered to move at an early 
hour across Hatcher's Run, through Dinwiddie Court House, to 
gain the right and rear of the Confederate army, with the 
secondary object of striking the South Side Railroad. General 
Sheridan was closely followed by the Fifth Corps and about one- 
half the army of the James, with the Second Corps in support, 
while the Sixth and Ninth Corps, the latter on the right, were 
extended so as to hold the lines in front of Petersburg. The left 
of the Ninth Corps was extended to Fort Davis. 

General Lee anticipated the movement towards his right, 
and, most probably, understood it about as well as if lie had seen 
the order. He reasoned from a military standpoint that good 
generalship would dictate this course to General Grant. The 
latter never gave up the idea of a direct assault and had the 
object iu view of compelling Lee to so weaken his line in front of 
Pet( rsburg to meet the force that was massing on his right that 
the Sixth and Ninth Corps would be able to make a successful 
assaull in connection therewith. 

We do not propose to follow this iii detail, as it has been 

repeatedly told in Btory and tonus one of the grandesl chapters in 
American history It led to the battle of Five Porks, and a few 
days later to the final surrender at Appomattox. There is one 



NEARING THE END. 



301 



point, however, of general interest, which has so often been 
brought into question, that we beg the patient indulgence of the 
reader while we pause to consider it. That is the one in regard 
to the actual strength of the opposing armies. It has never been 
claimed otherwise than that the Confederates were outnumbered, 
but not in such great proportion as their writers are fond of 
asserting. The truth of history has credited them with all the 
valor they can justly claim, without endeavoring to exaggerate it 
beyond the bounds of reason. 

The morning report of the Army of the Potomac at the 
opening of the campaign, March 31st, 1865, shows its effective 
strength present for duty, viz. : 3,064 officers and 68,956 enlisted 
men of infantry, 147 officers and 5,705 enlisted men of artillery, 
with 243 guns, while the Army of the James, acting in conjunc- 
tion with the Army of the Potomac, numbered 1,258 officers and 
32,009 enlisted men of infantry, 86 officers and 2,991 enlisted 
men of artillery, with 126 guns. To this force should be added 
611 officers and 13,209 enlisted men of cavalry, making a grand 
total of all three arms of the service, of 5,166 officers and 122,870 
enlisted men, with 369 guns; but of this force nearly 20,000 
belonging to the army of the James, did not participate in the 
final battles and assault, but remained in position upon the James 
river and guarded the depot of supplies at City Point. 

The latest Confederate report, found among the archives now 
in possession of the War Department, is dated Feb. 20th, 1865, 
which gives the effective strength of General Lee's army, " armed 
and equipped and present for duty," as follows: 2,762 officers 
and 36,404 enlisted men of infantry, 504 officers and 7,143 
enlisted men of cavalry, 313 officers and 5,531 enlisted men of 
artillery. To this should be added Rosser's cavalry division, 
about 1,500 men, the garrison of Richmond 2,700, and Wise's 
brigade with the garrison of Petersburg, about 2,000 men. 
There were other outlying detachments not embraced in this 
report, all of which would make General Lee's effective force, 
which he could bring into the field, not less than 58,000 officers 
and men. 



302 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



According to Confederate Inspection Reports made from Feb. 
24th to March 1st, 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia had an 
effective force, present for field duty, of 3,005 officers and 43,052 
enlisted men. This also fails to give the report of troops in the 
department of Richmond, Rosser's Cavalry Division and other 
detachments that properly belonged to the Army of Northern 
Virginia, which, if added, would make the Confederate effective 
strength not far from the figures we have given. The number of 
guns which they had in position was apparently larger in propor- 
tion to the strength of their army than that of the Federals. 

The estimated strength of the Confederate army which we 
have given is doubtless too small. 

It is no small undertaking, that of attempting to dig out 
58,000 men from their strongholds, brave and desperate men, 
skilfully commanded, who are resolved to fight to the bitter end. 
Those who think this task can be accomplished with a force 
equally as large, brave and well led, have never been where they 
could see it tried. 

While the movement was being made to the left, the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts continued to hold their position to the 
left of Fort Stedman. Frequent demonstrations were made by 
both sides, generally with some loss. 

About 10.30 the night of the 29th, the enemy commenced to 
throw up signal rockets and opened fire along the whole front of 
the First Division of the Ninth Corps. The artillery fire in front 
of the First Brigade was concentrated on Fort Morton, that in 
front of the Third Brigade on Fort Stedman. At the same time 
the enemy poured an infantry fire upon our lines from their main 
works and advanced a line of battle as far as the skirmish pits 
in front of the left of the Third Brigade, near the Norfolk Rail- 
road bridge. Our pickets made a stubborn resistance, but were 
temporarily driven back. The further advance of the enemy was 
Checked by the fire from our main works and subsequent]}' the 
picket line was restored. The artillery fire ceased in about an 
hour and an assault was apprehended, but was not made. This 
had no effect upon any portion of our main line and did not 
silence any of our guns. General Wilcox said : " It was the 



HEARING THE END. 303 

heaviest firing of all arms combined I have ever known from the 
enemy on this line. Great credit is due the troops for their 
steadiness." The attack was repulsed, but our loss was nine 
killed, forty wounded and two missing, all from the First Divi- 
sion. The Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts lost four men wounded, 
names unknown. This demonstration was doubtless made as a 
kind of speculation to ascertain about what force General Grant 
had left to hold the trenches, and whether the conditions were 
favorable for another assault upon our lines, with the alluring 
prize of our base of supplies at City Point. It resulted in their 
disappointment, and their hungry cravings had to be endured a 
while longer. Officers in charge of our signal stations reported 
unusual activity within the enemy's lines. Heavy fire of mortar 
guns was indulged in, at intervals, during the day and night, fre- 
quently accompanied by the familiar whirring, swishing Whitworth 
shell ; the latter travelled with greater rapidity, nearer the ground, 
and were more destructive. Oue passed directly through the 
tent of Capt. A. W. Cooke. 

Orders were issued for the exercise of extreme vigilance, to 
guard against another surprise like Stedman. The troops were 
ordered to turn out and stand under arms an hour before dark in 
the evening and an hour before day in the morning; while the 
trench guard was doubled. This, with the long line to be 
defended, gave the men but little rest. They had been actively 
engaged and under fire nearly evei'y day for the previous ten 
months, and the unusual strain of the few days following Sted- 
man had wellnigh exhausted them ; and then the uncertain 
expectancy of what was coming was wearing on the nerves. 

The order for the movements of the Army of the Potomac 
was issued by General Meade under date of March 27th, 1865. 
That portion which relates to the Ninth Corps is given below : — 

Fourth. The commanding officer of the Ninth Corps will hold his 
present line until notified of the abandonment of the Sixth Corps 
line by that corps, when he will take up the return from Fort Davis to 
his left .... 

Thirteenth. Major -General Parke will assume command of the 
line of works from Fort Cummings to the Appomattox, including the 



304 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



defences of City Point and the troops now garrisoning that post and 
line of works. He will keep np a threatening attitude with the force at 
his disposal, and in case he should discover any weakness on the part 
of the enemy, he will attack at once, and with his whole force if 
necessary .... 

The orders relating to General Sheridan's cavalry and the 
Army of the James were issued separately by General Grant. 
All surplus wagon trains, artillery and other impedimenta which 
could not be taken on the march with the troops, were left in rear 
of the Ninth Corps and at City Point, so that the march could 
be made with as little incumbrance as possible. All division, 
brigade and regimental commanders of the Ninth Corps were 
instructed to make every provision to have their commands in 
thorough condition for field operations by five o'clock on the 
morning of the 29th, and to be in complete readiness to move at 
a moment's notice. 

It was believed that the enemy was weakening his force in 
front of Petersburg to meet the troops which were massing on his 
right; an assault was therefore ordered by the Sixth and Ninth 
Corps to take place at four o'clock on the morning of the 31st. 
The Second and Third Divisions of the Ninth Corps were concen- 
trated in rear of Fort Sedgwick for this purpose, while the First 
Division on the right was to make a feint in front of Fort Stedman, 
and if the conditions warranted, the feint to be converted into a 
real attack ; a detail of picked men was made from the brigade to 
form a party of axemen for the purpose of cutting away the abatis 
and removing other obstructions in front of the enemy's parapets 
to give room for an assaulting column. Lieut. James H. Marshall, 
of the Fifty- Seventh, volunteered to lead them. The assaulting 
column, composed of the 29th, 57th and 59th Massachusetts, was 
to move forward as soon as the axemen had cleared the way. 
Such a hazardous undertaking was accompanied with very little 
hope for the axemen and none to spare for the assaulting force. 
The probabilities were thai none of the former would have escaped 
alive. As there were three lines of abatis to cul away, consider- 
able time would necessarily have been consumed in doing it, 




GEORGE E. WHITE, 

Member of 54th Congress from Illinois. 
Co. I. 57th Mass. 



HEARING THE END. 



305 



during which they would have beeu exposed to the fire of the 
enemy in the trenches at short range, with no protection whatever. 

The night was dark and rainy and the artillery firing heavy 
along the whole line. Men became tired and nervous from the 
long tedious waiting. Moments seemed hours ; the suspense was 
painful. The signal for the charge was to be the firing of two 
guns from Division Headquarters. This was eagerly listened for, 
but was not heard. Daylight dawned and it was learned, much 
to the relief of all who were to participate, that the order had been 
suspended. It was ascertained that the enemy still held their 
works in front of the Ninth Corps in force, and that the movement 
upon bis right had not been sufficiently developed to insure much 
hope of success. 

A deserter from our side, preferring to fly to ills he knew not 
of rather than bear those he already had, gave the enemy full in- 
formation of the contemplated assault, so they were prepared for 
it. Soon after daylight the next morning a voice from the Con- 
federate trenches called out : " Well, Yank, why didn't you come 
over and cut away the abatis last night? " 

Statements have beeu made that this threatened assault was 
only a feint to deceive the enemy, and that special care was taken 
that he should find it out, and it would thus be the means of re- 
taining a greater force in our front than would otherwise be sent 
to confront the troops operating upon the rebel right flank. Others 
claim that it was no ruse, but intended for a bona-fide attack. 
Whichever way it was there is just as much credit due the brave 
Marshall for volunteering. 

After careful search of the records on file in the War Depart- 
ment, we could find nothing that would indicate the affair to be a 
ruse. The Ninth Corps had been ordered to attack, but the 
details of it were left to General Parke. The order was never 
countermanded, but somewhat modified. To show that it was no 
ruse we quote the following extract from a despatch sent by 
General Grant at 8.30 p.m. of the 30th, addressed to General 
Meade : — 

You may notify Parke and Wright that they need not assault in the 
morning. They should, of course, watch their fronts and go in if the 



20 



306 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



enemy strips to so in on our left, but the idea of a general attack by them 
is suspended. I have pretty much made up my mind on the course to 
pursue, and will inform you in the morning -what it is ... . 

(Signed) U. S. GRANT, 

Lieutenant- General. 

On the first of April the order for the assault was given as 
follows : — 

Headquarters Ninth Army Corps, 
April 1st, 1865. 
Division Commanders : In accordance with instructions from the 
Major-General commanding the Army, the following orders are issued. 
An assault upon the enemy's works in front of Fort Sedgwick will be 
made at 4 a.m. tomorrow, by the Second and Third Divisions and the 
First Brigade of the First Division. 

1. Brigadier-General Hartranft, commanding Third Division, will 
mass his division in rear of the line between Fort Sedgwick and Fort 
Rice by three a.m. 

2. Major-General Potter, commanding Second Division, will with- 
draw his division from the line and mass it in rear and to the left of Fort 
Sedgwick and on the left of the Third Division at the same time. 

3. Major-General Wilcox, commanding First Division, will with- 
draw his First Brigade, Colonel Harriman commanding, from the line 
and mass it on the right of the Third Division at the same time. 

4. Major-General Wilcox and Major-General Potter will leave their 
picket lines out and garrisons in the forts. 

5. At 4 a.m. the entire picket line will advance, endeavoring to hold 
all ground gained, and the assaulting columns will charge. Strong 
pioneer parties, provided with spades and axes, will be arranged by the 
commanders of divisions. 

<!. Major-General Wilcox will hold his other two brigades in readi- 
ness to advance upon the enemy's works in his front on receipt of orders. 
They will not be withdrawn from the line until further orders. 

7. Quartermasters, Commissary of Subsistence and Medical De- 
part incuts will make their dispositions accordingly. 

8. After 3.30 \.m. corps headquarters will beat the Avery Bouse, 
Third Division Headquarters. 

I have the honor to be, v< t\ respectfully, your obedient servant, 

(Signed) JOHN C. YOUNGMAN, 

Assist nut Adjutant-General. 



N EARING THE END. 307 

About ten o'clock that night (April 1st), our artillery opened 
along the whole line, from the James river to our extreme left on 
the South Side Railroad, which was vigorously responded to by 
that of the enemy along their entire front. The "lost cause " was 
going down under a halo of glory. It was a magnificent display. 
The whole heavens were ablaze with burning fuse and bursting 
shells as far as the eye could reach. The twinkling stars seemed 
to join in this Yankee Te Deum for the national victory and 
national peace. There seemed to be an unusual stir in Petersburg 
and a loud explosion was heard during the night. 

The pickets of the First Division were pushed forward in 
front of Fort Stedman, and our artillery, which for a time had 
ceased firing, again opened. While the attention of the enemy 
was directed to this the troops which had been formed in rear of 
Fort Sedgwick for the assault, moved forward promptly at four a.m. 
(April 2d) and were launched forth, amid the thundering roar of 
cannon, upon the enemy's works. They were received with a 
storm of grape and canister and musketry, but swept impetuously 
forward through the deadly tempest, through the ditch, tearing 
away the abatis, scaling the walls over the parapets and finally 
planting the national colors upon the enemy's battlements, and 
there to stay. Twelve guns, a number of colors and eight hun- 
dred prisoners were the trophies won by the Third Division. 

The Second Division met with a still greater resistance and 
gained the enemy's works only by driving him from traverse to 
traverse in a hand-to-hand conflict. The enemy bravely struggled 
with almost superhuman effort and with a perfect disregard of all 
danger at every point assailed. Fort Gregg was held by them 
with a force of less than three hundred men. It was attacked by 
troops of the Twenty-Fourth Corps under General Gibbon and 
finally, after a most desperate resistance, taken. Of the garrison 
fifty-five men were found dead in the fort, which, with the 
wounded, left only about thirty men for duty, while the loss 
inflicted upon the Federals was much greater. 

The Confederate outer line of works was now in our posses- 
sion and they were forced back to an interior line, which was 
gallantly assailed by the Second Division, Ninth Corps, but 



308 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT .MA — . VOLUNTEERS. 

which proved unsuccessful. General Potter, commanding the 
division, was severely wounded, by being shot through the body, 
in the midst of the conflict. Both sides fought with a gallantry 
that showed they had lost none of their bravery or determi- 
nation. The Second and Sixth Corps, with part of the army of 
the James, further to the left, had also been successful. During 
the day the Sixth Corps reached the stormy banks of the Appo- 
mattox to the southwest of Petersburg. 

After the first assault and capture of the outer line of works, 
General Parke received orders from General Meade " not to ad- 
vance unless you see your way clear," and ; ' hold on to all you 
have got." The way to a further advance was not "clear," 
as the enemy was vigorously pressing the Ninth Corps' left, 
hence the men went to work to strengthen the position that had 
been gained, by reversing, as far as practicable, the captured 
works to resist the attempts that were being made to recapture 
them. About eleven a.m. the enemy had massed a force opposite 
the left of the Ninth Corps and made a determined attack to re- 
gain what he had lost, but was heavily repulsed. So persistent 
and threatening were the demonstrations that, for a time, it was 
f.ared thai the position would be lost, and it became necessary to 
send reinforcements from City Point. The enemy was now 
effectually laid in check. 

Later in the day a renewal of the assault on the Confederate 
interior lines was seriously contemplated. It was finally deemed 
advisable no1 to risk all that had been gained by an attempted 
further advance, but to strengthen and make the captured works 
secure. Ai 7.10 a.m. (April 2d), General Grant sent to General 
Meade the following : — 

There Is more uecessity tor care on the pan of Parke than either oJ 
1hl . others of -in- corps commanders. A.6 1 understand it. he is attacking 
the main line of works around Petersburg, whilsl the others are only 
attacking the outer line, which the enemy mighl give up without giving 
up Petersburg. Parke should advance rapidly or cover Mb men and hold 

alll ^-'''~ Signed) V. S. GRANT, 

Lieutenant-General. 



NEARING THE END. 309 

General Meade replied that he had sent orders to General 
Parke to hold all he had got and "to proceed cautiously in 
advancing." 

This assault was one thing the Fifty- Seventh missed. The 
regiment performed the duty required of it, viz. : to push forward 
the picket line and drive back that of the enemy. From their 
position in front of Stedman, the men of the Fifty-Seventh could 
see the gallant line of blue as it rolled forward over the enemy's 
works, and hear their exultant shouts, while farther down from 
the left came the reverberating roar of battle, which was helping 
to swell the triumphant tide of victory. The day closed with 
buoyant hopes upon the one side and fast gathering gloom upon 
the other. The brave arm}' of Northern Virginia that had fought 
so gallantly for nearly four years, that had so often carried their 
banners forward through the smoke of battle to brilliant victory, 
now began to realize that their cause was lost and their pride 
humiliated, save that which still lingered in the immortal glow of 
an undaunted heroism to which they could justly lay claim. 

General Parke reported, "All our people did splendidly 
today." Soon after two o'clock of the morning of April 3d, the 
enemy's pickets were withdrawn. At four o'clock our skirmishers 
advanced but met with no resistance. Their lines had been with- 
drawn and the city of Petersburg evacuated. Our troops were 
immediately put in motion and entered the city, where General 
Wilcox was placed in command, with the First Division as a 
garrison, for the protection of persons and property. General 
Parke with the other two divisions of the Ninth Corps followed 
the Sixth in pursuit of the retreating Confederates. 

Colonel Ely, in command of the Second Brigade of the First 
Division, received the formal surrender of the city, and the 
national flag was hoisted upon the Court House, by the First 
Michigan Sharpshooters, where it floated proudly, a menace to 
treason and a rainbow of promise behind the dark cloud of war 
that was fast passing and breaking away. 

In passing through the enemy's works the beginning of a 
mine was discovered opposite Fort Stedman, evidently undertaken 



310 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. YOLl'XTKKRS. 



with a view of blowing up that fort, but they were driven away 
too soon for the execution of their object. 

Early in the morning, before reaching Petersburg, several 
huge columns of smoke were seen to rise from the centre of the 
city. Subsequently these proved to be caused by the burning of 
several large tobacco warehouses, railroad station and other 
buildings, which had been fired by the retreating Confederates to 
prevent their falling into Federal hands. The " vandal Yankees " 
immediately set to work to extinguish these fires and to save 
the property belonging to the enemy who was endeavoring to 
destroy it. 

The Fifty-Seventh marched into Petersburg with C'apt. 
George E. Barton commanding. As the regiment did not pursue 
the retreating enemy, we will not undertake to follow the move- 
ments of the two contending armies, or attempt a description of 
those thrilling events which electrified the whole country and 
which finally resulted, a few days later, April 9th, 1865. in the 
surrender of Lee's whole army, after the most desperate fighting. 

As the Federal troops entered the city, they found that 
most of the citizens of the better class had left. Several hundred 
of the Confederate soldiers who had concealed themselves in the 
houses came out from their hiding places and surrendered. The 
women kept themselves behind closed doors and curtained 
windows, though many faces were seen cautiously peering out 
with an angry look of despair in their eyes. The children timidly 
peeped around the corners at the marching troops, while the 
colored population was out in full force, singing, "The year ob 
jubilee is come," " Bress the Lawd, de Yankees is here," " Massa 
Linkun's Yankees gwine to set us free." Little did these poor, 

ig -ant people realize the long, tiresome journey that was to 

had them through the dark shadows of persecution and political 
intrigue, before they would be able to appreciate the great bless- 
ings of freedom and the responsible duties of citizenship, which 
were to be given them. They gave no thought as to what they 
were to do in the future. To them it was the one supreme 
moment when they lived entirely in the present, drawing nothing 
from the pasl and demanding nothing of the future. They were 



NBARING THE END. 311 

free to go where they pleased ; their first great desire being to 
ride on the cars. 

• On the 2d of April, Col. Gilbert P. Robinson of the 3d 
Maryland was relieved of the command of the Third Brigade and 
Col. James Bintliff of the 38th Wisconsin succeeded him and was 
in command when the brigade entered Petersburg. The Federal 
troops marched into the city in an orderly manner. There was 
no attempt at pillage or to commit other depredations, except 
smashing any sign showing Confederate colors. Many of the 
boys laid in a supply of tobacco, which they managed to save 
from the burning warehouses. All other private property was 
protected from damage or destruction, and the needy inhabitants 
supplied with food. The dreaded Yankees, who it was feared 
would burn and sack the city, went to work to save it from the 
flames set by their own people and to protect what remained. 

The Petersburg Express had made its last appearance under 
Confederate regime the Saturday before. In its last issue, 
referring to events then taking place at the front, it said: "All 
goes well with us." There was more truth in those few words 
than the writer was aware of when he wrote them, for, as time 
has since proven, it was well for them that their army was 
forced to surrender and their State restored again to the Union. 
Some of our boys in blue resumed the publication of the paper 
which showed a decided change in favor of loyalty. The dead of 
both sides were buried and the wounded cared for. General 
Wilcox established his headquarters in the city and placed a 
strong guard at all important points. In two hours after our 
troops had gained position everything was in perfect order, per- 
fect discipline was established, and the families of the belligerents 
were as safe as they would have been in the city of Boston. The 
Fifty-Seventh did not remain long in the cfty, but was moved 
the same day, crossing the Appomattox and proceeding by the 
Richmond turnpike to a place called Violet Bank, where brigade 
headquarters were established. Long lines of prisoners were 
marched in, and troops were detailed to bring them in from 
the woods and other hiding places. Up to include April 2d, 
about ten thousand had surrendered. 



312 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



It was a joyful day to those veterans of the grand old Army 
of the Potomac, who could now look forward, through the clearing 
storm, to a realization of those bright dreams in which they had so 
long and fondly indulged, of home and friends in a reunite I 
country, and in the enjoyment of a peace that seemed ten- fold 
more dear after the dangers, hardships and sufferings of four long 
years of wild war's dread alarms. The joy of returning peace 
was saddened by the thought of those who would never return ; 
that there was " many a sweet babe fatherless and many a 
widow mourning." Even the prisoners seemed glad the war 
was over and they, too, could return to their homes in peace ; 
but how different from those of the other side. Many were to 
return to desolate homes, to blackened ruins that stood in horrid 
mockery of what was once a happy fireside. What changes the 
four years of war had worked for them ! Property destroyed, 
slaves liberated and their cause lost. Footsore, poor, hungry 
and ragged, they plodded their weary way towards the spot they 
had once known as home, not knowing that they would find 
anything left. This picture presented no romantic colors for 
them, the pomp and glory of war had all disappeared, they 
carried no silken banners, not even the "bonny blue flag" 
thai bore the single star so proudly. No plaudits of victory 
and no triumphant procession in their honor awaited them, only 
a silent, sad return to loving, but bruised and bleeding hearts. 
They could cherish the glory of gallant deeds almost without par- 
allel, vet they had not demonstrated to the world that one Confed- 
erate could " lick a dozen Yankee-." 

Our rejoicing was not in their humiliation or their misfor- 
tunes, we rejoiced that the war was actually coming to an end 
and the Union t«» be restored. They had passed through the fiery 
ordeal, had been regenerated and were again to become our 
fellow-citizens. The Federal soldier did not taunt them with 
their defeat, but divided his rations will) those who had but a few 

days before been his enemies. They clasped hands and called 
each other " Yank " and "Johnnie Reb," with the utmost good 
feeling. 



NKAKING THE EXD. 313 

As we admire their heroism on many a bloody battlefield, so 
do we now admire the pluck and energy they have shown in 
rebuilding the places laid waste in the destructive path of war. 
They have won the admiration of the world for their undaunted 
courage, their sacrifices and their faithful devotion to a bad cause, 
which we would be glad to blot from the book of remembrance. 

The Northern soldier desired peace just as much as his 
Southern brother. " Let us have peace," found an echo in the 
hearts of all who had passed through the tempest of war. It 
came alike to both sides. The war was actually about to close. 
Let those who are won by its charms stand upon the historic 
battlefields and think of the countless number of brave men who 
gave their lives a sacrifice ; of the whitened bones and unknown 
graves scattered over the Southern land, of the thousands upon 
thousands doomed to go through life with shattered limb and 
ruined health, and of all the untold and inconceivable horrors of 
war ; then let them witness the sudden transition to a state of 
peace and they will know better how to appreciate the inesti- 
mable blessings of it. Those immortal words spoken by General 
Grant will go down through the ages to come and live while 
Christian civilization lasts and history is read, as one of the 
grandest, noblest sentiments expressed by mortal man. If 
the South had suffered defeat, they, too, were to have a share in 
the victory. 

It would be impossible to describe all the amusing scenes 
that took place as our army marched into Petersburg, with the 
bauds playing "We'll rally round the flag, boys," and the 
Union banners gracefully floating iu the smiling April breezes. 

Roger A. Pryor had the good fortune to fall into our hands 
again and the headquarters of the brigade were at his residence. 
He had a fine library which our troops boxed up for him to 
enable him to preserve it. He said he had told General Lee, the 
day before, that he was " beaten." 

On the morning of April 4th, the regiment again received 
orders to move, recrossed the river and went into camp in the old 
line of Confederate works near the Mcllwaine house, the brigade 
extending from the Appomattox river to the plank road. At 



314 



FIFTY-SEVEXTII REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



noon the next day the regiment moved to Sutherland's station on 
the South Side Railroad, and from there proceeded to relieve the 
pickets of the Third Division. Another change was made on the 
8th and the regiment was stretched along the railroad to protect 
it from any raid that might be attempted upon it in the then 
unsettled condition of affairs, so that our trains could follow the 
army with supplies. On the afternoon of the 9th the regiment 
moved to Farmville, where the men received the glad tidings, 
which they had been anticipating, of Lee's surrender. This left 
no doubt that the glorious end had come. The next night 
(April 10th) was one of general jollification, the memory of 
which will long linger with the many and varied experiences of 
the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts. The regiment remained in this 
vicinity performing guard duty until April 20th. 

Chaplain Dashiell says : " The regiment enjoyed the change 
from the trenches to the beautiful farms which had begun to feel 
the touch of opening spring, and appropriated a church at 
Hebron, which was used as headquarters, and departing, left in 
perfect order for the congregation, as one of the boys said, so 
that the erring members, should they return to their allegiance, 
might have a place of worship cleansed and purified." 

All the officers of the Fifty-Seventh w r ere quartered in this 
church, with the headquarters in the pulpit. Every pew was 
provided with a spittoon, showing that tobacco, as well as the 
bible, was necessary during their hours of worship. It was left 
in good order, with the following to be placed upon its sacred 
records: " Hededicated to his Yankee omnipotence, Abraham 
Lincoln, and his invincible ' Captain of the Host,' Ulysses S. 
Grant, and consecrated to the use of those of the armies of the 
U.S. who are shelterless. April 8th, 1865." 

With their other duties while remaining here, the staff officers 
were busy administering the oath of allegiance to those who had 
been disloyal to the Government, and converting them into loyal 
citizens of the Qnited States. Stragglers and detachments came 
in from the woods and seemed glad to take the parole and go 
borne, regarding the war as virtually closed. Large numbers of 
thein threw away their arms, and scattered through the country 



NEARIXG THE END. 315 

for their homes, without the formality of a surrender or taking the 
oath. The Confederate officers simply made out rolls of such of 
their men as were present, after being signed and verified, 
the men were paroled and permitted to return to their homes, 
" not to be disturbed by the United States authority as long as 
they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may 
reside." 

There were thousands of names not borne upon these rolls, 
as they had left before the final surrender. There have been 
many conflicting statements as to the number actually surrendered. 
Many Confederate writers claim that it was less than twenty 
thousand and not more than half of those armed ; and that they 
were surrounded by about two hundred thousand Federal troops. 
The actual number surrendered by General Lee, as shown by the 
official records on file in the War Department, and paroled at 
Appomattox Court House, was 2,781 officers and 25,450 enlisted 
men. " Cabell's, King's, Lane's, Nelson's, Pegram's and Sturdi- 
vant's battalions, borne on return for Jan. 31st, 1865, are not 
accounted for by the paroles." (Marginal note on official tabular 
statement. — J. A.) 

This did not embrace the command under Mosby, who con- 
tinued hostile operations until April 21st, eleven days after the 
surrender, when it was disbanded. The farewell address issued 
by him reads as follows : — 

Soldiers : I have summoned you together for the last time. The 

vision which we have cherished of a free and independent country has 

vanished. I disband your organization in preference to surrendering it 

to our enemies. I am no longer your commander. After an association 

of more than two eventful years, I part from you with a just pride in 

the fame of your achievements and grateful recollections of your 

generous kindness to myself ; and now, at this moment, in bidding you 

a final adieu, accept the assurances of my unchanging confidence and 

regards. Farewell. 

(Signed) J. S. MOSBY, 

Colonel. 

No doubt our wounded soldiers who were captured by him- 
directly after the battle of the Wilderness would be glad to know 
if his robbery and abuse of them were classed among the 
" achievements " of which he felt so much pride. 



316 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



The number paroled did not include about ten thousand who 
had been reported captured up to April 2d and other commands 
heretofore mentioned. Neither did it include those who had 
thrown away their arms and gone home without a parole. Add 
to all these the number killed in battle from March olst to April 
9th and it will be found that the Confederate Arm} 7 of Northern 
Virginia under General Lee numbered, at the beginning of the 
eanipaigu, an effective force for duty, of all arms of the service, 
uot far from fifty-eight thousand men. 

In a dispatch sent by Mr. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, 
dated April 12th, 1865, from City Point, he says: "General 
< "J rant now estimates the total force of Lee, at the beginning of 
the campaign, at seventy thousand." 

General Gibbon reported from Appomattox Court House. 
April loth, that 147 pieces of field artillery, about 10,000 small 
arms and 71 flags had been surrendered. The day after the sur- 
render, Gen. W. N. Pendleton, Confederate Chief of Artillery, 
of General Lee's army, reported that they had 250 field-pieces 
belonging to their army on the lines near Richmond and Peters- 
burg, but does not say how many siege and mortar guns they had. 
It is known that they were well supplied. It has been claimed by 
many Confederates that General Lee surrendered only about 
eight thousand men under arms. This has been used to make it 
appear that eight thousand was the whole force which they were 
able to oppose to the Army of the Potomac during the last few 
days of the sanguinary conflict. Nothing could be farther from 
the truth. We have giveD the numbers surrendered from official 
reports. Even many of their own officers admit that their troops 
wen- worn "lit with constant marching, day and night, and fight- 
ing. Many threw away their arms ami ninny Btraggled away who 
were not reported. The country was thickly wooded and it 
became .-in easy matter for men to throw away their arms and 
make their escape, after it became known that :i surrender was 
inevitable. The claim (hat Lee was conducting the campaign 
with an effective force of only eight thousand is absurd in the 

extreme ami nol justified by their own reports. 



HEARING THE END 317 

The first thing that became necessary after the surrender 
was to feed the half starved prisoners. The supplies that they 
had relied upon in attempting to break away had been cut off 
and captured or destroyed. The surrender was made in good 
faith. It was feared b}' many that their army would disband 
and escape through the wooded country to some appointed ren- 
dezvous where they would continue to carry on the war as guer- 
illa bands, but their great leader, Lee, never encouraged it. 
Beaten in the field, after doing all that brave men could do, 
he counselled no other course but a surrender and obedience to 
the laws, with an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the United 
States Government. Not so with Jefferson Davis ; he wanted to 
fight on. With the fall of Petersburg, Richmond had to be 
abandoned. This released our prisoners who had been confined 
in Libby Prison, and those who were starving at Andersonville 
took hope from the echoing "Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are 
marching." 

Jefferson Davis escaped to Danville, where, on the 4th of 
April, he issued an address, "To the people of the Confederate 
States of America," informing them that they had "entered 
upon a new phase of the struggle, the memory of which is to 
endure for all ages and to shed an increasing lustre upon our 
country." Then assured them that, " It is my purpose to main- 
tain your cause with my whole heart and soul ; that I will never 
consent to abandon to the enemy one foot of the soil of any one 
of the States of the Confederacy," etc. Still later, April 21st, 
eleven days after the surrender of General Lee, General Mum- 
ford, commanding a Confederate cavalry brigade, issued Special 
Order, No. 6, which is rather amusing and well worth reading: — 

Soldiers: — I have just received a communication from the Presi- 
dent of the Confederate States, ordering us again to the field in defence 
of our liberties. General Johnston, with an army constantly increasing, 
well appointed and disciplined, still upholds our glorious banner. We 
are ordered to report to him. Our cause is not dead. Let the ^aim- 
stern determination to be free, which has supported you for four years 
of gallant struggle, still animate you, and it can never die. One disaster, 
however serious, caunot crush out the spirit of Virginians ami make 
them tamely submit to their enemies, -who have given us, during all these 



318 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



terrible years of war, so many evidences of their devilish malignity in 
our devasted fields, our burned homesteads, our violated daughters and 
our murdered thousands. Virginians will understand that their present 
pretended policy of conciliation is but the cunuing desire of the Yankee 
to lull us to sleep while they rivet the chains they have been making such 
gigantic ert'orts to forge, and which they will as surely make us wear 
forever if we tamely submit. We have sworn a thousand times by our 
eternal wrongs, by our sacred God-given rights, by the memor}' of our 
noble fathers and our glorious past, by our gallant dead, who lie in every 
plain of our war-scarred State, by our glorious victories on many a 
well-fought field, that we would be free. Shall we not keep our oaths? 
Can we kneel down by the graves of our dead, kneel in the very blood 
from sons yet fresh, and kiss the rod that smote them down? Never! 
Never ! better die a thousand deaths. We have still power to resist. 
There are more men at home today belonging to the Army of Northern 
Virginia than were surrendered at Appomattox. Let them rally to the 
call of our President, and Virginia, our beloved old Commonwealth, shall 
yet stand triumphant and defiant, with her foot upon her tyrants pros- 
trate, and her proud old banner, never yet sullied, with its " Sic sent/" r 
tyrannis'' streaming over her. 

Soldiers of the old brigade, to you I confidently appeal. You have 
never been surrendered. Cutting your way out of the enemy's lines 
before the surrender was determined, you, together with the majority of 
the cavalry, are free to follow your country's flag. The eyes of your 
Virginia, now bleeding at every pore, turn with special interest to you. 
Will you desert her at her sorest need? You Avill never descend to such 
infamy. Let us renew our vows and swear again by our broken altars 
to be free or die. Let us teach our children eternal hostility to our foes. 
What though we perish in the fight! As surely as the God of justice 
reigns, the truth, the right will triumph, and though we may not. our 
children will win the glorious fight, for it is not within the nature of her 
Southern -mis to wear the chains of Yankee rule. 

We have >till a country, a flag, an army, a government; then to 
horse! A circular will be scut to each of your officers designating the 
time and place of assembly. Hold yourselves in instant readiness, and 
bring all true men with you from this command who will go, and let us 
who struck the last blow, as an organized part of the Army of Northern 
Virginia, strike the flrsl with that victorious army which, by the bless- 
Ings "t" Miir gracious God, will yet come to redeem her hallowed soil. 

(Signed) THOMAS T. MUMFORD, 
Brigadier-General, Commanding Division. 

This fighting brigadier has somehow disappeared from the 
Moody fields of war and our history lias been robbed of his 



NEARING THE END. 319 

further exploits. Many of us would be glad to know if he 
performed those terrible things which he had solemnly sworn to 
do. If a copy of this order had been sent to General Grant no 
doubt he would have surrendered the Army of the Potomac 
through fear of the dire wrath of General Mum ford, and the 
whole army would have brought up in Andersonville. There 
were, however, some points of truth in what he said: "There 
are more men at home today belonging to the Army of North- 
ern Virginia than were surrendered at Appomattox." This 
would make General Grant's estimate of Lee's army at the 
beginning of the campaign, viz. : seventy thousand, nearer cor- 
rect than we have given it. Again he claims : " You have never 
been surrendered. Cutting your way out of the enemy's lines 
before the surrender was determined, you, together with a major- 
ity of the cavalry, are free to follow your country's flag." This 
confirms what we have heretofore said and is further confirmed by 
a dispatch sent to Mrs. Jefferson Davis, dated " Greensborough, 
April 12th, 1865," signed by Burton N. Harrison, who appears 
to have been some kind of private secretary to Jefferson Davis in 
his flight, in which he says : " The infantry was dispersed all over 
the country ; the men had thrown away their arms and were going 
home to take care of themselves. The cavalry seems to have 
taken to their heels." .... This, no doubt, was what General 
Mumford did on the principle that 

•' He who fights and runs away 
Will live to fight another clay." 

We never have learned what effect this order had, but it 
must have been something like that which shortly after animated 
" the President of the Southern Confederacy," who, while making 
zealous efforts to escape in a new style of uniform, demanded 
to know if " your government made war upon women and chil- 
dren." When the General (Mumford) spoke of the outrages 
committed by the Federal soldiery, "burned homesteads," etc., 
he was probably in ignorance of the fact that the fires from the 
torch applied by themselves upon the evacuation of Petersburg 
and Richmond, and which threatened to destroy the homes they 



320 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



bad abandoned, were extinguished by the Yankee and colored 
soldiers and that their own families, at that very time, were being 
protected by them, and that same grand old Army of the Potomac 
would have fought just as bravely for their protection as would 
this valiant General ; though they would not have made quite so 
much noise and fuss about it. We never heard, but presume, the 
oath of allegiance to the United States soon " tempered the wind 
to this shorn lamb," and that his warfare is not going on now 
except with " the world, the flesh and the devil." 

While stationed here the division hospital, with Doctor W. V. 
White of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, who was chief medi- 
cal officer of the division, and Chaplain Dashiell, who was con- 
nected with the hospital, were ordered to Burksville Junction to 
take charge of the captured Confederate hospital. The chaplain 
says : " Nothing evidenced the extremity to which the eneni}' had 
been reduced as the condition of the men in this hospital. Their 
bloody clothes had been cut off the wounded and they were lying 
on their cots, in a nude state, with scarcely a shirt to cover them." 
The chaplain, furnished with shirts and drawers by the Sanitary 
Commission, passed through the wards to supply their needs. 
Spying out the destitute ones, he came across an adjutant- 
general, badly wounded, who asked him what the Yankees pro- 
posed to do with them. "O," said the chaplain, "• we will take 
good care of yon." " Well," said he, " I hope they will suffer 
me to go anywhere, even to an uninhabited island, rather than 

abide with the d d Yankees." The chaplain said : "All 

right." Afterwards, when the chaplain returned with a stock of 
Clothing, he meekly asked for garments to rover his nakedness. 

He did not remind him that they were made by the Yankee 
women lest he might fear contamination. 

There were very lew such cases as this among the men 
who had done the fighting. This was a rare exception and 

should l>e regarded only as a little bravado, knowing that being 
wounded, he was beyond the pale of resentment and could, 
therefore, indulge his temper without fear of responsibility. 

.Most of those who had "borne the heat and burden of 1 he 
day" were heartily glad it was over. — we of the Union army 




CHARLES H. BARNES, 



Co. F, 57th Mass. 



NEARING THE END. 321 

equally so with the defeated Confederate. We had seeu all 
the fighting we wanted, and were glad of the prospect which now 
seemed near realization of laying aside the implements of war 
and walking again in the paths of peace. Yet the men of the 
Army of the Potomac would rather have braved more and 
gone farther than to surrender the life of our National Gov- 
ernment, which would have gone with the success of the 
Confederacy. 

To attempt an eulogy of the bravery of the Confederate 
soldier is wholly unnecessary. That has become a matter too 
deeply stamped upon the pages of history ever to be blotted 
out. Their gallant deeds stand for America, and as Americans 
we treasure them. Whatever we deny to them only shadows 
our own record that much. If we had not been battling against 
a brave and spirited people, the war would not have lasted one 
year; neither would it if the Northern soldiers had been pos- 
sessed of no valor, as was generally believed at the South, but in 
this case the result would have been different. 

With the fall of Petersburg, Richmond was quickly evac- 
uated. Preparations had been going on for some time with this 
in view ; although Mr. Davis continued to issue assuring mes- 
sages to the people and the army, yet he and his tottering gov- 
ernment were packing up to leave. Mr. Davis (April 4th) 
assured the people that Richmond had been abandoned only tem- 
porarily, as a military necessity, in order to relieve the army of the 
arduous duty of defending it. Relieved of this responsibility, 
they could devote more attention to the defeat of their enemies. 
Victory was predicted. In evacuating Richmond, the Confeder- 
ates set fire to public property and war material, that could not be 
removed, to prevent its falling into our hands. This fire, kindled 
in the midst of a thickly populated city, soon spread to private 
property. Most of the business part of Main street and many fine 
residences were destroyed. During the interval between the 
evacuation by the Confederates and its occupation by the Fed- 
erals, the city was at the mercy of a mob of their own people, 
who were engaged in sacking and plundering. In a report 
subsequently made by the Confederate General J. B. Kershaw, 



21 



322 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



he mentions that he detailed two battalions to suppress the 
mob before leaving, thus showing that the work of "looting" 
commenced while the city was still in Confederate hands. The 
Federal troops, under General Weitzel, soon took possession and 
restored order. The Federal soldiery extinguished the flames and 
gave protection to both property and peaceable citizens. The 
inhabitants were found almost destitute of food, and rations were 
at once issued to all who were needy. 

In face of all the "inhuman atrocities " the " Yankees " 
were accused of committing, by Mr. Davis and others, their 
leaders, we find the actual facts were that the hated Yankees 
saved the city from destruction after it had been fired by their 
own people, protecting their homes and families and actually 
feeding them. Can a more generous treatment of a captured 
belligerent city be shown in history? The victorious Yankees 
even went further than this, and restored the city to their own 
civil officers, when they were ready to assume the obligations and 
take the oath of allegiance to the government from which they 
had revolted. 

General Weitzel reported the capture in Richmond of five 
hundred pieces of cannon and five thousand muskets in one lot. 
These were in addition to those with their army in the field, show- 
ing that they were well supplied with artillery and ammunition. 

In the midst of all this rejoicing over the glorious victory, 
and while the utmost good feeling prevailed among a majority of 
the Confederate rank and file, the sad intelligence was received 
of the assassination of President Lincoln. It was a terrible shock 
to the whole army, from the General-in-Chief down to the private 
soldier. By his patriotic devotion to the cause of our country, 
the great interest he took in the welfare of the army, ami that 
honesl sympathy lie always manifested for the sick and wounded. 
endeared him alike to officers and men. There was no name that 
could arouse such enthusiasm as that of Abraham Lincoln. No 
Chief magistrate Of a nation ever possessed so wholly the love of 
the loyal people :is he. All the rejoicing was instantly turned to 
deepest i ik >u in i Qg , :uid. tor a time, it was viewed as a blow 
Struck by a treacherous enemy in the interest of a cause they had 



NEARIXG THE END. . 323 

lost in battle. This caused, at first, a feeling of rage that could 
only be satisfied by revenge upon the leaders and those who were 
supposed to be instrumental in committing the dastardly deed. 
Had any of the Confederates expressed pleasure in it they would, 
most probably, have been made to suffer. The Confederate 
prisoners expressed a general regret and indignation towards the 
brutal assassins, and were anxious to disavow any responsibility 
for their army in the horrible affair. If there were any who did 
not feel so they were wise enough to give no expression to it. 
The Confederate soldier who fought under Lee did all he could in 
manly battle, and when that battle ended he was the last one to 
resort to such dastardly means as assassination. 

General Meade issued an order which calmed the excitement, 
and our army continued to treat the Confederate prisoners and 
people with the same kindness and generosity. Future events 
demonstrated the fact that the blow, terrible as it was, fell heavier 
upon the people of the South than of the North. As President 
Lincoln had conducted the war to a successful close, possessing 
the full confidence of all the loyal people, he stood in a position 
where he could do more toward reuniting the country and 
restoring harmony than any other mau. His true character was 
stamped in his own language, "With charfty for all and malice 
towards none." In his death the South lost her best friend at 
the time she needed him most. The assassin did the South a 
greater injury than an} T other man could have done during the 
long course of the war. 

This event caused the transfer of the Ninth Army Corps to 
Washington, where they were placed on special duty, to surround 
the city with a cordon of troops, through which no one could pass 
without written authority. The order for the corps to move was 
received by General Parke, April 19th. The march for City Point 
commenced at daylight on the morning of the 25th and its con- 
nection with the Army of the Potomac ceased. City Point was 
reached the same day and the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, with the 
whole Ninth Corps, was placed upon transports and proceeded 
down the James river and up the now peaceful waters of the 
Potomac to Washington. 



324 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



The one short year that had elapsed, since the corps had 
passed in review before the President, had been one of the most 
eventful in American histor} 7 . Those who returned could feel a 
just pride in a duty faithfully performed and a share in the honor 
of victory. Now " all quiet along the Potomac " had become an 
established fact. The troops marched in review before General 
"Wilcox and were then placed on duty on the Maryland side near 
Tennallytown. 

Mr. Pollard, in " The Lost Cause," does not attribute the 
downfall of the Confederacy to a superiority of numbers, but to 
the "thorough demoralization of the armies and people of the 
Confederacy." We quote as follows: — 

" There must be some explanation for this flat conclusion of 
the war. It is easily found. Such a condition could only take 
place in a thorough demoralization of the armies and people of 
the Confederacy. There must have been a general decay of 
public spirit, a general rottenness of public affairs, when a great 
war was thus terminated and a contest was abandoned so short 
of positive defeat, and so far from the historical necessity of 
subjugation. 

"There has been a very superficial, and, to some people, a 
very pleasant way of accounting for the downfall of the Southern 
Confederacy, by simply ascribing it to the great superiority of 
the North in numbers and resources. This argument has had a 
great career in the newspapers and in small publications ; and the 
vulgar mind is easily imposed upon by the statistical parallel, and 
the arithmetical statement, inclined as it is to limit its compre- 
hension of great historical problems to mere material views of the 
question. We shall give this argument the benefit of all it con- 
tains, ami state it in its full force. Thus, it is correctly said that 
official reports in Washington show that there were called into 
the Federal service from the Northern States 2,656,553 men* 
during tin; war, ami that this number is quite one-third as many 
:is all the white men. women and children of the Southern States. 

"Again the figures in the War Department at "Washington 
-how that on the 1st of May, 1<S65, the military force of the 



• The official records also show that only about I,4*.i0,o00 of these men ever saw 
active field service at the front. — .1 . \ 



NEARIXG THE END. 325 

North was 1,000,516 men of all arms,* while the paroles from 
the Confederacy officially and conclusively show that the whole 
number of men within its limits, under arms, was exactly 174,- 
223. f Thus it is said, putting the number of 1,000,516 against 
174,223, and taking into account the superiority of the North in 
war material, there is sufficient reason for the failure of the Con- 
federate cause without looking for another. 

" This explanation of failure is of course agreeable to the 
Southern people, but the historical judgment rejects it, discovers 
the fallacy, and will not refuse to point it out. It is simply to be 
observed that the disparity of military force, as between North 
and South, stated above, is not the natural one ; and the fact of 
only 174,223 Confederates being under arms in the last period of 
the war was the result of maladministration, the defective 
execution of the conscription laws, the decay of the volunteer 
spirit, the unpopularity of the war and that these are the causes 
which lie beyond this arithmetical inequality, which, in fact, pro- 
duced the greater part of it, and which must be held responsible 
in the explanation. The fallacy consists in taking the very 
results of Confederate mal-administration and putting them in 
comparison against a full exhibition of Northern power in the 
war. 

' ' There is no doubt that this superiority of the North in num- 
bers had great weight ; that it- contributed much to the discom- 
fiture of the Confederacy ; that it must be taken largely into any 
explanation of the results of the war ; but the great question, at 
last, remains, was this numerical inequality, of itself, sufficient 
to determine the war in favor of the North, considering the great 
compensation which the South had in superior animation, in the cir- 
cumstance of fighting on the defensive, and, above all, in the great 
extent of her territory. We fear that the lessons and examples of 
history are to the contrary, and we search in vain for one instance 
where a country of such extent as the Confederacy has been so 
thoroughly subdued by any amount of military force, unless irhere 



* Not all in the field under arms. — J. A. 

t As we have explained on a previous page, the paroles did not represent the 
whole number surrendered. What was true of men in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia throwing down their arms and going home without a parole, was true to a much 
greater extent with their armies serving at a distance. — J. A 



326 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



popular demoralization has supervened. If war were a contest on 
an open plain, where military forces fight a duel, of course that 
inferior in numbers must go under. But war is an intricate game, 
and there are elements in it far more decisive than that of 
numbers. 

" At the beginning of the war in America, all intelligent men 
in the world, and the Southern leaders themselves, knew the dis- 
parity of population and consequently of military force, as 
between the North and South; but they did not, on that account, 
determine that the defeat of the South was a foregone conclusion, 
and the argument comes with a bad grace from leaders of the 
Confederacy to ascribe now its failure to what stared them in the 
face at the commencement of the contest, and was then so lightly 
and even insolently dismissed from their calculation. 

"The judgment of men who reflected was that the South would 
ultimately be the victor, mainly because it was impossible to con- 
quer space ; that her subjection was a ' geographical impossi- 
bility' ; that three millions of men could not garrison her 
territory ; that a country so vast and of such peculiar features — 
and not open as the European countries, and traversed everywhere 
by practicable roads, but wild and difficult, with river, mountain 
and swamp, equivalent to successive lines of military fortifica- 
tions, welded, as it were, with natural mounds and barriers — 
could never be brought under subjection to the military power of 
the North. And these views were severely just; they are true 
forever, now as formerly; but they proceeded on the supposi- 
tion that the morale of the Confederacy would be preserved, 
and when the hypothesis fell (mainly through mal-administration 
in Richmond) the argument fell with it. 

" There is but one conclusion that remains for the dispas- 
sionate studenl of history. Whatever may be the explanations 
of the downfall of the Southern Confederacy, and whatever may 
be the various excuses that passion and false pride, and flattery 
of demagogues may offer, yet the great and melancholy fact 
remains that the Confederates, with an abler government and 
more resolute spirit, might have accomplished their independence. 
This reflection irresistibly couples another. Civil wars, like 



NEARING THE END. 327 

private quarrels, are likely to repeat themselves where the unsuc- 
cessful party has lost the contest only through accident or 
inadvertence. The Confederates have gone out of this war 
with the proud, secret, deathless, dangerous consciousness that 
they are the better men, and that there was nothing wanting but 
a change in a set of circumstances and a firmer resolve to make 
them the victors. To deal with such a sentiment, to keep it 
whipped, to restrain it from a new experiment, requires the highest 
efforts of intellect, the most delicate offices of magnanimity and 
kindness, and is the great task which the war has left to American 
statesmanship. 

"Would it be strange in a broad view of history, that the 
North, pursuing a policy contrary to what we have indicated, 
and venturing upon exasperation and defiance, should realize that 
the South has abandoned the contest of the last four years 
merely to resume it in a wider arena and on a larger issue, 
and in a change of circumstances, wherein may be assorted the 
profit of experience and raised a new standard of Hope." 

Mr. Pollard wrote this soon after the war and before public 
opinion in the South had become crystallized. The longing for 
separation from the Union has disappeared. The Southern people 
find their interests lie in remaining in the Union and would not go 
out if they could. Neither is there any desire to keep them 
" whipped " ; they have all the rights and privileges of citizenship 
that are possessed by those who were the victors in the contest. 

Mr. Pollard seems to throw the whole responsibility of 
failure upon Mr. Davis, yet, when he speaks of the " firmer 
resolve " that was required, what could he ask more than the 
determination and firmness of Mr. Davis himself, who exhibited it 
in a remarkable degree from the very beginning of the war. He 
was one of the "last ditch" men. In an address to the once 
famous Hampton Legion, he said : " When the last line of bayo- 
nets is levelled, I will be with you." However, he was not 
exactly true to his word, for " when the last line of bayonets was 
levelled," he was masquerading in a costume anything but warlike, 
though he still possessed the morale and a brave spirit of deter- 
mination for one of the sex he was personating. 




WILLARD F. BARNES, 



Co. F, 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER XV 




COMING HOME. 

HE Fifty-Seventh remained in camp near Tennallytown 
for the next three months, occupying a lovely ground 
on the slope of a beautiful hill, resuming drill, guard 
and the usual routine of camp duty, and also per- 
forming guard and provost duty in the city of Washington 
during the excitement caused by the assassination of 
President Lincoln, the arrest and trial of the conspira- 
tors, and their execution. 

Soon after the arrival at Tennallytown, Gen. N. B. 
McLaughlen (Colonel of the Fifty-Seventh) arrived aud was 
assigned to command the brigade. The regiment, under command 
of Lieut. -Col. J. M. Tucker, participated in the grand review in 
Washington, with the Army of the Potomac, May 23d, 1865. 

The Ninth Corps was commanded by General Parke, the 
First Division by General Wilcox, and the Third Brigade by 
General McLaughlen. The corps was arranged in numerical 
order as to divisions, and divisions in the same order as to 
brigades. 

A correspondent of the Boston Journal gives the following 
description of the appearance of the Ninth Army Corps : — 

"Two hours after the head of the column had passed, the 
headquarters guidon of the Ninth Army Corps came along, with 
its crossed cannon and anchor, eliciting many a pleasant recollec- 
tion of the brave Burnside. Today the corps is commanded by 
Major-General Parke, who rode a spirited sorrel horse with a 
wreath of laurel encircling the animal's neck. 

" I cannot allude in detail to regiments or officers, but I can- 
not refrain from a word of praise to the Third Brigade of Wilcox's 



330 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Division of the Ninth Corps, commanded by Bvt. Brig. -Gen. 
N. B. McLaughlen. It was headed by a detachment of pioneers, 
followed by a mule with panniers well filled with intrenching 
tools, then came a good band and drum corps, followed by the 3d 
Maryland, 50th New York, 57th and 59th Massachusetts and 
100th Pennsylvania, all ' bully boys,' marching square to the 
front, in ranks well dressed, pieces carried on a level, an easy 
springing step and elbows touching lightly." 

Washington wore its gala dress and Pennsylvania avenue, 
from the Capitol to the White House, was thronged with people 
who had come from all parts of the country to witness the review. 
It was the grandest military pageant that had ever been witnessed 
upon this continent. Fully seventy-five thousand men passed 
before the President, who was accompanied by distinguished gen- 
erals, governors of loyal States and other distinguished personages. 

As the troops moved along the avenue with their streaming 
banners, some torn to mere shreds by shot and shell, and bands 
playing, the appearance was grand. The light and dark blue 
uniforms with the bright colors of the zouaves and the gold lace 
of the officers, gave a fine effect to the spectacle which was a con- 
tinuous, moving line as far as the eye could reach. The flag- 
staffs were decorated with flowers, while the flags bore, in gold, 
the names and dates of battles in which the regiments had been 
engaged. 

Soon after this the work of disintegration commenced. The 
citizen soldiers felt that their work was finished, and they were 
impatient to go home and again take their places in the walks of 
civil life. A few had situations awaiting them, but most were to 
commence life anew and in strange positions. The regiments 
having the shortesl time t<> serve were the first to be mustered out 
and sent home, those having the longest to serve were retained 
until it was fully assured that the French would move out of 
Mexico. 

We were now where we could assert the principles of the 
•• Monroe Doctrine " in the most positive and emphatic manner. 

The Emperor, Napoleon Third, had taken advantage of our 
Civil War to attempl the establishment of an empire upon our 



COMING HOME. 331 

southern border, and was now invited by Uncle Sam to pack up 
and leave. Napoleon promptly accepted the invitation. 

The people of the United States were not anxious to become 
involved in a foreign war, yet they were never in a better condi- 
tion to meet it ; they felt the indignity they had been made to suffer 
at a time when they could not help it. Now they were in a con- 
dition to resent it. Until this matter became settled, the Fifty- 
Seventh Regiment was among the number to be retained in the 
service. General Parke was assigned to the command of the 
District of Alexandria. 

General Bartlett returned and on the 19th of June was 
assigned to the command of the First Division, Ninth Corps, and 
at once instituted a more thorough course of drill and discipline, 
which, in anticipation of an early discharge, had become lax. 
General Bartlett says of it : "I found the command in rather a slack 
state of discipline, no attention paid to guard duty or drill. It is 
natural to feel, now that the war for which they enlisted is over, 
that there is no further need of discipline, and that the strict per- 
formance of guard duty any longer is needless." 

That was just the way they did feel and they were anxious 
to get home and back into civil life again. 

On the 26th of May an order was issued consolidating the 
59th with the 57th Massachusetts, the two organizations to retain 
the name of the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts. Officers rendered 
supernumerary by the consolidation were to be mustered out of 
the service. This was not accomplished until the 20th day of 
June, although the consolidation was to take effect upon the 1st 
day of June. 

Capt. A. O. Hitchcock, of the Fifty-Seventh, was assigned 
to duty on the staff of Maj.-Gen. Nelson A. Miles, who com- 
manded at Fortress Monx-oe, where the ex-President of the South- 
ern Confederacy was confined and in a very unhappy frame of 
mind . 

The duties at Tennallytown were not arduous, and there 
were many pleasant incidents, which officers and men now recall 
with pleasure ; but the military restraint seemed harder than ever 
to bear. Men lost their interest in drill and did not take kindly 



332 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



to discipline. There were many violations of army regulations, 
which, under different circumstances, might have brought punish- 
ment upon the offender, but which were now overlooked. 

What could be said to those men who had subjected them- 
selves to discipline and braved everything until the war had closed 
and they could almost see home? Even General Bartlett con- 
fessed that he did not find the charm that used to fascinate, and 
felt that the object and aim of discipline had gone. Being in poor 
health, on account of his many wounds and sufferings of prison 
life, he soon accepted a leave of absence and severed his con- 
nection with the army. 

Regiment after regiment took its departure for home and 
the old Ninth Corps was fast melting away, like the winter's 
frost and snow, under the bright smiles of sunny peace. The 
date of final disbandment was July 27th. The First Division was 
the last to be mustered out. 

General Wilcox issued his last order and bade his officers and 
soldiers an affectionate farewell. After briefly recounting the 
history of the division, he spoke of the " various regiments which 
had left the bones of their dead to whiten battlefields in seven 
different States. Your families and fellow citizens will welcome 
your return in peace and victory. You will carry about you in 
civil life, a sense of your own worth ; and self respect will 
characterize those who have done and deserved so well of their 
country." 

On the 30th of July, the Fifty-Seventh received orders to 
return to Massachusetts for final muster-out. Upon arriving at 
Jersey City, the regiment was met by a delegation of the New 
England Association, and was invited to parade through the city 
of New York. 

Chaplain 1 )ashiell describes the reception given to the regi- 
ment in the following words: — 

''The Sons of .Massachusetts thronged the barracks at the 

battery, and. as tin- regimenl marched up Broadway with its 
tattered Hag and scarred veterans, they received an ovation from 
the crowd winch thronged the streets, which will never be for- 
gotten. 



COMING HOME. 333 

' ' At the New England rooms they were received with a salvo 
of artillery, and waving of flags and cheers which made the welkin 
ring. Reaching Union Square the rank and file were regaled with 
a bountiful collation and the officers were entertained at the rooms 
of the Union League Club. Countermarching down Broadway, 
they were reviewed at the Astor House by Major-General Hooker 
and staff, and on their arrival at the battery, found a sumptuous 
dinner provided with all the fruits and delicacies of the season, 
which was keenly relished by the men who had known little but 
salt pork and hard tack for many long months. 

" After dinner I. C. Carter, in behalf of the Sons of Massa- 
chusetts, welcomed the soldiers on their return from victory, to 
which General McLaughlen fittingly replied. Our old corps com- 
mander, General Burnside, appeared at the barracks afterwards 
and was enthusiastically greeted by his old men." 

There were many flattering notices of the Fifty-Seventh in 
the papers of New York and New England. The Worcester 
Palladium of August 2d, 1865, makes the following mention : — 

Dispatches from Washington inform us that the Fifty-Seventh 
Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, left Washington on Sunday after- 
noon for home. This regiment was one of four " veteran" regiments, 
so called, which were recruited during the winter of 1864. 

The regiment was recruited in Worcester County and the counties 
west of Worcester, and left the State on the 18th of April. It now 
returns with the 59th incorporated in its ranks. Partners in sutteriug 
and glory together, they went into the battle of the Wilderness on the 
6th clay of May, and in fourteen battles and skirmishes they have fought 
in the same brigade line, shoulder to shoulder, and now they come back 
one single band. 

In twelve months' service the Fifty-Seventh regiment alone had 
11 officers and 91 enlisted men killed, and 22 officers and 391 enlisted men 
wounded, besides 100 missing in battle, many of whom languished and 
died in southern prisons .... 

The terrible marching and fighting which brought the army before 
Petersburg, reduced the regiment to scarcely one hundred men, with 
which it entered the charge of July 30th. On this disastrous clay all of 
its commissioned officers of the field and line, except Lieutenant Doty, 
who had been promoted a few clays before, were killed or wounded. 
Major Prescott, commanding, and Captains Howe and Dresser were 
killed, and only this lieutenant and twenty-five enlisted men escaped 
unharmed. 



334 



FIETY-SEVEXTH REGIMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Thus, in three months, nine hundred men had been put hors-dc- 
combat, and it seemed as if the career of the regiment had been run. 
Soon, however, the convalescents began to return and the ranks were 
filled up with battered and scarred veterans, and the regiment was 
enabled to give a good account of itself in the successive engagements. 

On the 25th of March, in the rebel assault upon Fort Stedman, the 
disaster of the 30th of July was terribly avenged. It so happened that 
the rebels were met and repulsed, with great slaughter, by the very 
troops upon which they inflicted such fearful loss the day of the, mine. 

The Palladium was somewhat in error in regard to the losses 
of the Fifty- Seventh during the year of actual field service. 
According to the Adjutant-General's Report, State of Massachu- 
setts, for 1864, it lost 7 officers killed, 23 wounded and 1 missing, 
92 enlisted men killed, 330 wounded and 101 missing, from May 
7th to Dec. 31st, 1864, eight months. 

The loss of Fort Stedman was 2 officers killed, 2 wounded 
and 2 missing, 5 enlisted men killed, 27 wounded and 40 missing. 
The total number of officers killed should have been 9 instead of 
7, and wounded 22 instead of 23, and none missing. 

It having been subsequently ascertained that Lieutenant 
Childs who was reported missing at the "Wilderness was killed, 
and Lieutenant Bowman, mortally wounded before Petersburg, 
died in a few hours. The same remark as to Major Doherty at 
Stedman. 

If we add the casualties at Stedman with the four who were 
subsequently wounded, we have a battle record for the Fifty- 
Seventh of 11 officers killed, 24 wounded and 3 missing, 97 
enlisted men killed, 361 wounded and 141 missing. Total battle 
loss, 35 officers and 599 enlisted men, out of a little over 900 
with which the regiment took the field in April, 1864. The num- 
ber reported killed is too small and the missing too large, as. in 
the Wilderness, North Anna river and the mine affair, many 

were reported missing, who, it was subsequently learned, had been 

killed. Of the original line officers who left the State with the 
regimenl in April, L864, all but three were killed or wounded. 

The casualties we have given do not cover those who died from 
disease <>r wounds, after having been discharged from the service. 



COMING HOME. 



335 



In the history of regimental losses of all the regiments in the 
service during the whole period of the war, carefully compiled by 
Col. William F. Fox, U.S. Volunteers, from official records in 
the War Department, we find the 2d Wisconsin Infantry heads 
the list with the heaviest loss of any regiment on the Federal side 
in killed or mortally wounded, being 238 out of 1,203 men 
enrolled or 19.7. The second regiment in the list is the 1st 
Maine Heavy Artillery, with a loss of 423 killed or mortally 
wounded, out of a total number enrolled of 2,202, being 19.2 
per cent. 

The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts is credited with the third 
position, having lost 201 killed or mortally wounded, out of a 
total number enrolled of 1,052, being 19.1 per cent. These 
figures are nearer correct than those given by the State Adjutant- 
General, as the latter report was made from "nominal " lists of 
casualties, by regimental commanders, before it was known 
whether men reported as missing were killed or taken prisoners ; 
and such records appear never to have been corrected, except at 
Washington where Colonel Fox obtained his figures. 

We have referred to engagements where these reports were 
erroneous, viz. : Wilderness, North Anna river, Petersburg, July 
30th and Fort Stedman. Glancing again at the figures given by 
Colonel Fox we find that the losses cover the whole time these 
regiments were in the service. 

The Second Wisconsin entered the service in 1861 and was 
in the first battle of Bull Run, and the loss 19.7 per cent which 
they sustained covered a period of three years. The loss of the 
Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts of 19.1 covered a period of less than 
one year. 

We find some errors in Colonel Fox's figures in relation to 
the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts. He gives only ten officers 
killed, while to our personal knowledge there were eleven, as 
follows : Colonel Chandler, Majors Prescott and Doherty, Captains 
Gird, Howe and Dresser, Lieutenants Bowman, Cheney, Murdock, 
Coe and Childs (11). The latter was reported missing at the 
Wilderness, but was never heard from again, hence it is beyond 
question that he was killed. The Adjutant-General's Report of 



336 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Massachusetts carries this remark opposite his name, "Died of 
wounds received in the Wilderness." This would make the 
number killed, or died of wounds, in the Fifty-Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, 202 instead of 201, and increase the percent to 19.2, 
plus, the same as the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. 

The latter regiment was longer in the service than the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, but the first two years it served in the 
defences around Washington, and joined the Army of the 
Potomac with the opening of the campaign of 1864. Their 
percentage, therefore, of battle loss, would be just the same as 
the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts for the same length of time. 

We have searched all the records available, and are unable 
to find any regiment that suffered a heavier loss, in killed, for 
the same length of time, than the Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts, 
and only one that exceeded it during the whole period of the war. 
The regiment, therefore, holds second place with the 1st Maine 
Heavy Artillery, although Colonel Fox gives us the third place. 
Again, Colonel Fox gives the number of the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts, who were taken into the battle of the Wilderness, 
as 545. These figures appear to be correct, as Company K was 
not in the engagement. Besides there were other detachments 
for cattle guard, etc., so that the regiment had only about one- 
half its strength present for duty, but lost, Fox says, 94 killed or 
mortally wounded ; it should be 95, or 17.4, in this one battle. 

In addition to the number lost in battle the Fifty-Seventh, 
as shown by Fox, lost 86 men who died from disease or in Con- 
federate prisons, making the total number of deaths 288, being 
27.4 per cent. 

The total number of men enrolled in the Fifty-Seventh 
Massachusetts was 1,052, bat when the regiment left the State 
for the seat of war about 100 were left behind as being physically 
unlit foT duty, subsequently most of them were discharged and 
never saw any service outside of Massachusetts, except that of 
drawing pay, bounty and, later, a pension. Some few of these 
nun joined later, lnit the regiment took the field with only a 
little over nine hundred men. This would make the percentage 




RODNEY D. LOOMIS, 



Co. H, 57th Mass. 



COMING HOME. 337 

of loss greater ; however, other regiments may have suffered from 
the same cause in like proportion. 

We quote Fox further. He gives the loss of the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts as 716 killed, wounded and died in Con- 
federate prisons. This would give the total battle loss of 68 per 
cent, and that is also counting those who did not go, but whose 
names stood against the regiment. 

This is the record which the old Fifty-Seventh brought back 
to the State. It tells the story in grander eloquence than we can 
find language to portray. Can those who understand the strong 
tie of comradeship that binds us, wonder that we love to cherish 
and preserve it, or that we feel proud of it? 

Shakespeare says, "He jests at scars that never felt a 
wound." 

Statistical records are extx*emely difficult to get exactly cor- 
rect, but we believe those given by Colonel Fox are as nearly so 
as can be, having been taken from the records of the War 
Department. 

We wish to pause here to acknowledge our indebtedness to 
him for his excellent book entitled " Regimental Losses," from 
which we have taken the liberty of copying. 

In a previous chapter we explained the difficulties of making 
correct returns from the field, experienced by regimental and 
company commanders. The importance of this was not under- 
stood then as well as it has been since, particularly with us at the 
present time, when we want to get at the facts. 

Most of the lists of casualties for the Fifty- Seventh were 
marked " nominal," which meant that the one who made them 
believed they were approximately correct, or as near as he 
could get them, and was glad to get them off his hands, hoping 
that would be the last of them. 

Confederate reports were in still greater doubt. We do not 
venture the use of many of them as being correct. A tabular 
report made by Gen. J. B. Fry, Assistant Provost-Marshal Gen- 
eral, in 1865-66, gives the Confederate loss of 74,524, who were 
killed or died of wounds, and 59,297 from disease, total 133,821. 



22 



338 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

These figures were compiled by General Fry from Confed- 
erate muster rolls, on file in the bureau of Confederate Archives 
in "Washington. General Fry says these rolls are incomplete, as 
nearly all those of Alabama troops were missing, which, if in- 
cluded, would make their mortality list much greater. 

There seems to have been less care taken to make Confed- 
erate reports accurate than in case of our own. There was a 
general disposition to underestimate their strength in the field and 
also to depreciate their battle losses. To count the complete 
mortality loss of the State of Alabama would swell the aggregate 
Confederate loss of killed, mortally wounded, and died from 
disease incident to the war, to fully 150,000. 

That of the Union side, as shown by the figures compiled by 
Colonel Fox, amounted to 110,070 men killed in battle, while 
2-49,458 more died from disease, accidents, Confederate prisons, 
etc., making a total mortality loss of 359,528. Add this to what 
we have taken for the Confederate loss and we have 509,528 men 
who gave their lives during the four years of bloody war. 

One stands appalled in contemplation of such an immense 
sacrifice of human life, which is without parallel in modern his- 
tory. It is hard to realize the magnitude of this great war; the 
greatest and bloodiest of the century. 

"The charge of the gallant Six Hundred," at Balaklava, 
which has been immortalized throughout the whole Christian 
world by the pen of Tennyson, sustained a loss of 113 killed 
and 134 wounded; a total of 247 out of C>73, a percentage of 
36.4 in the "Valley of Death." There were numerous charges 
on both ilif Federal and Confederate sides, where the loss was 
nearly twice as great. The 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg lost 215 
killed and wounded, out of 262 engaged, 82 per cent. General 
Pickett's gallanl charge upon the Union lines at Gettysburg 
curried a loss fully equalling "the gallant Six Hundred." 

Colonel Fry has given a tabulated statement of deaths from 
all causes in the Union Army during the war. As this is of 
great interest to all who participated, I have copied it below 
in full, after which we will not burden our readers with sta- 
tistics : — 



COMING HOME. 339 



DEATHS PROM ALL CAUSES. 



Cause. 


Officers. 


Enlisted men. 


Aggregate. 


Killed, or died of wounds. 


6,365 


103,705 


110,070 


Died of disease, 


2,712 


197,008 


199,720 


In Confederate prisons, 


83 


24,783 


24,866 


Accidents, 


142 


3,972 


4,114 


Drowning, 


106 


4,838 


4,944 


Sunstrokes, 


5 


308 


313 


Murdered, 


37 


483 


520 


Killed after capture, 


14 


90 


1(14 


Suicide. 


26 


365 


391 


Military executions, 




267 


267 


Executed by the enemy. 


4 


60 


64 


Causes known, but unclassified, 


62 


1,972 


2,034 


Cause not stated, 


28 


12,093 


12,121 



Aggregate, 9,584 349,944 359,528 

Colonel Fox makes a foot-note to the above table in relation 
to those who died in Confederate prisons, in which he says : — 

"In addition to this number, there were 5,290 who died 
while prisoners, and who are included in the other items of this 
classification. The total number of Union soldiers who died, 
while in the hands of the enemy, according to this official report, 
was 30,156. The causes of their deaths are classified as follows : 
from disease, 24,866 ; wounds, 2,072 ; sunstroke, 20 ; accidents, 
7; drowning, 7; killed after capture, 104; executed by the 
enemy, 64 ; causes known but not classified, 319 ; cause not 
stated, 2,697 ; total, 30,156. But owing to the imperfect records 
kept at some of the Confederate prisons, the deaths are not all 
included in the foregoing statement. The mortality of Union 
prisoners, as shown by graves, has been estimated at 36,401, 
being nearly 29 per cent of the total number of Federal prisoners 
captured during the war. 

This statistical record does not complete the measure of all 
the horrors that follow in the path of war. It does not tell 
of the mutilated forms and broken health that can never be 
restored, neither does it count the mourning widows and 
orphans. 



340 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Looking into the far distant future, we hear the question 
asked, " What was all this for?" May the answer be found in 
a prosperous and united country, which we hope will endure as 
long as the brave deeds of noble, patriotic men stand upon record, 
and show to the world that a government of the people and by 
the people is as enduring as the strongest and most aristocratic 
monarchy. 

Not one loyal heart in all this broad land but felt truly 
thankful when the war was over. Those who had shared its 
fortunes and faced each other upon bloody fields of battle, never 
want to see another, unless it be in defense of those principles 
that are dearer to every true man than life itself. 

How well we remember the thrill of joy that all felt in the 
very thought of "the war is over." It had come so suddenly 
that men could hardly realize it. They had no revenge to satisfy, 
no plunder to gain, no hardships to impose and no bitterness to 
carry from the field of strife, but all hearts beat with inexpres- 
sible joy and gladness in anticipation of an early return to home 
and friends. 

The "Johnnies" were no longer our enemies, but our 
brothers and fellow citizens. They had made a glorious fight 
until further resistance was hopeless, then manfully surrendered, 
laid down their arms, and those who had endured the dangers and 
hardships of battle became again loyal to our flag and country. 
We will always honor and respect them for their brave deeds. 
With the force they still had in the field a guerilla warfare could 
have been carried on for some time longer; which, although 
inflicting considerable loss upon the country, would have fallen 
more heavily upon their own section. The hopes indulged in by 
Great Britain and other foreign powers, that, with the close of 
the war, other dire calamities would follow to destroy our repub- 
lican form of government, were not realized. 

It bad been prophesied that when our large armies would be 
disbanded and freed from the restraints of military rules and dis- 
cipline, it would produce a state of lawlessness, crime and 
anarchy, which would finally lead some popular and ambitious 
genera] to place himself again at their head, overthrow our 



COMING HOME. 



341 



republican form of government and plant an empire upon its 
ruins. But as the echoes of war died away beyond the southern 
hills, this vast body of citizen soldiery became absorbed in the 
new life of the nation. The receding tide of war was taken up 
by the gently heaving billows and lost in the boundless ocean of 
peace. Those who had fought the battles of the republic through 
the storms and perils of war again became obedient to civil law 
and ever ready to uphold it. Statistics show that there have been 
fewer violations of it by them thau those of the same class who 
stayed at home. 

That the Confederate soldier should still cherish the memory 
of those long, eventful years of battle and suffering is quite 
natural. Like us, they too feel a comradeship endeared by a 
thousand ties and sealed by the blood of their brothers. They 
have much in which to glory, their record shines as brightly in 
defeat as it would have done in victory, except that it bore the 
blemish of a bad cause. 





TAP 




JAMES SULLIVAN, 

Musician Co. E, 57th Mass. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



HOME. 




"'Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." 

N the second day of August, I860, the regiment em- 
barked for New York on a steamer of the Providence 
line en route for Readville, where it arrived the next 
day, and was formally mustered out of the United 
States service on the 9 th day of August, 1865, and 
thus ended their duties as soldiers of the Republic. After 
their final discharge the officers met at a banquet at the 
United States Hotel in Boston, then followed a final handshaking 
and separation to distant homes and various pursuits in civil life. 
With the welcome dawn of peace the nation seemed to spring 
from a new birth into a more healthy and vigorous life. At first 
the political agitations that followed in the train of war seemed to 
threaten new and serious dangers. It is not within our province 
to enter into a discussion of them. This was felt more severely 
in the South, where the ravages of war had fallen with a heavy 
hand. We should remember that our conditions were entirely 
different. The Federal soldier came back to scenes of thrift 
and prosperity, with back pay and bounty for his services, and 
pensions, where disabled. The Confederate soldiers returned to a 
desolate home, or none at all, and where there was no prosperity. 
All their social and political relations had been over.turned as a 
result of the war, and they had to commence in ways that were 
new and strange to them. Their former slaves had become 
citizens and were free to do as they pleased. For the first few 
years it was a serious question with them how to get bread to 
feed themselves and their families. 



3U 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



It is not strauge, after such a gigantic struggle, iu which 
their laud had been torn as by the thunderbolts of heaven, that it 
took some time to bring order out of this chaos. Passions that 
had named through the fiery tempest of war could not be extin- 
guished in a moment. The storm had passed, but dark clouds 
still lingered above the Southern horizon, though the sighing gale 
grew fainter day by day, only when fanned into brief life by the 
political agitations which followed. After going down under the 
crash of battle, the "Lost Cause" still lived in the memory of 
the Southern people until lost in the growing light of prosperity 
which sprang from the ruins. But few had means to work with 
and seemed to lack the adaptability of employing what they had, 
to advantage. While the people of the North felt a sympathy 
for them, they realized that their unfortunate condition was the 
result of their own actions. The masses were the sufferers. 
Most of their leaders, who had been directly responsible, took to 
the life-boats when the wreck became plainly inevitable ; only one 
of these was swamped. 

Our glorious old Ship of State had outridden many dark 
storms that threatened to drive her upon the breakers. This 
was the severest strain which she had ever encountered ; her 
sails and rigging were torn and splintered, but she emerged with 
the timbers stronger than when the keel was laid by our revolu- 
tionary sires. 

On Forefathers' Day, Dec. 22d, 1865, several of the regi- 
ments of .Massachusetts Volunteers united in an imposing parade 
and ceremony, upon the occasion of returning the flags which had 
been intrusted to them bythe State and which they had carried as 
they marched ou1 to war. Many were riddled by shot and shell, 
bul not a star had been blotted from the field of azure blue. The 
57th and 59th appeared in line with ten officers and fifty men to 
transfer their two standards hack to the custody of the State. 
Their tattered condition spoke, in greater eloquence than can be 
expressed bythe power of language, of the sublime devotion of 
those men who gave their lives to their country, and the heroic 

sacrifices that were made that the country might live. 

With the close of hostilities the prison pens of the South were 
thrown open and delivered of their prey. Those who had waited 



home. 345 

long and patiently while singing through the dark hours " Cheer 
up, comrades, they will come," now realized that the time had 
actually come when 

" Beneath the starry flag we shall breathe the air again 
Of the freeland in our own beloved home." 

Among those released from Andersonville was Dr. A. K. 
Gould, who was taken prisoner while caring for the wounded upon 
the battlefield of the Wilderness. We give a few extracts from 
his description of prison life, written for " Fitchburg in the War " : 

" Well do I remember when I arrived in sight of this terrible 
place, on the 29th of May, 1864, and of my first interview with 
the rebel officer in charge of it, Capt. Henry Wurtz, a most sav- 
age looking man, who was as brutal as his looks would seem to 
indicate. He offered us all the abuse he was capable of and then 
marched us into prison. It was no uncommon thing for this brute 
to strip the prisoners of their clothiug and everything of value about 
them before sending them inside the stockade. The stockade in 
which we were confined was made by setting logs upright in the 
ground as closely as they could be driven, standing above the 
ground about fourteen feet and enclosing about nineteen acres 
of land, about half as wide as it was long. Running through, or 
across the lot, was a brook about four feet wide and generally 
two or three inches deep, thus giving us water to use, but of the 
filthiest character, on account of there being, just above us, a 
camp of three thousand rebels, and as many more negroes (serv- 
ing as guard over us), all of whose filth and refuse was emptied 
into the brook and swept down to us. In addition to this the 
land on either side of the brook, to the extent of six acres, was 
a complete swamp. A portion of this was used by the thirty 
thousand prisoners, more or less, for sink purposes, and its effect 
upon the water can better be imagined than described. 

" When I entered the prison, May 29th, 1864, the number of 
prisoners was about nine thousand, which was gradually increased 
to thirty-two thousand on the first of July. Their condition was 
enough to make one sick on first entering the place, but it was 
nothing in comparison to what I experienced afterwards. To see 



346 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS VOLUNTEERS. 

my fellow-men suffering for want of food and clothing as I did ; 
to see them stretching out their bony hands for the merest morsel 
to eat ; to hear their piteous inquiries : ' Shall we ever go home ? ' 
to see how they died, poor fellows, wasting away little by little, 
exposed to the scorching rays of a Georgia sun,— this was euough 
to break the hardest heart. 

" It may be interesting to know how we lived. We dug- 
holes, or burrows, in the ground, thus forming a little shelter for 
us. Once a day we had our rations brought in, which consisted 
of one half pint of corn-cob meal, coarsely ground, or its equiva- 
lent in beans or rice, sometimes bacon, and all these of the poor- 
est quality. One of the most dreadful things in this dreadful 
place was the dead-line. This was a furrow turned up about 
twenty feet from the stockade all around, and was called the 
< dead-line.' If a man dared to step over this line or cross it by 
mistake, he was at once shot by the guard without a word being 

said. 

" It was sickening to see the dead as they lay in the prison 
pen. It was the custom to carry them out every morning, the 
prisoners being hired to do this, their pay being an extra ration 
and a chance to bring in an armful of wood when they returned. 
These inducements were so great that sometimes one squad would 
steal a dead body from another in order to get a chance to go out 
and get wood and more to eat, Others were detailed for this purpose, 
and they, also, got extra rations, and when the guard came for any 
such purpose, how eager the men were to gel a chance to go, and how 
savagely they were treated when refused. So many of these bar- 
barities crowd themselves upon my mind that I hardly know where 
to stop. Some of the prisoners thought they might escape if they 
gol out, but the bloodhounds were too much for them. A pack 
was kept for the purpose of hunting all such, and very savage 
they were, too, so that few escaped them who ever tried. 

<< I found in the prison several men from Fitchburg and 
vicinity. William T. Peabody, Company F, Fifty-Seventh, was 

Captured with nie and remained witli mi 1 until he died. Sept. 1st, 
L864, poor fellow, literally starved to death; no disease about 



347 



him, but reduced to a living skeleton, as was the case with 
thousands there. 

" There is one scene I shall always remember and that was 
the hanging of six of our comrades. Their crime was raiding 
upon and murder of their fellow prisoners. Their plan was to fall 
upon any of us that they thought they could plunder. They would 
steal clothing or anything else which they could bargain to the 
' rebs.' The rebel authorities allowed the prisoners to try them 
and hang them, glad even to have some of us killed off in 
that way. 

"Another feature of this place was the 'stocks.' I have 
never suffered in them but have often seen my comrades tortured 
by them. The pain was excruciating in the extreme. The men 
were put into a hellish machine that would stretch all their mus- 
cles and cords could bear, and, with their faces turned up to the 
scorching sun, they were left from twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours. This was the most barbarous act of all, and this to men 
already completely emaciated by sickness. I have seen men 
taken from the stocks only to expire in a few minutes. All this 
was done by authority of the officers in charge. . . . 

" We were taken from this place to the city of Charleston, 
Sept. 14th, 1864, where we were kept under fire of our batteries for 
three weeks, but fared much better than elsewhere, being fed and 
cared for by the Sisters of Charity. From Charleston we were 
taken to another prison pen, a second Andersonville, called Flor- 
ence. Here the same usages, the same fare and treatment were 
dealt out to us, but there was one new phase presented to us, 
which was the compulsory movement to make our men enlist in 
their service. This was done by extra starvation. ... I was 
finally released Dec. 15th, 1864, having been in prison seven 
months and two days." 

Much that was written by Doctor Gould has been told by 
others who were unfortunate enough to be prisoners of war at 
Andersonville. 

We know the Confederate resources were greatly reduced, 
but not to such an extent, especially in Georgia, as to justify 
starvation. The cruelties our men were made to endure in Ander- 



348 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

sonville, and the iudignities offered, can find no palliating circum- 
stance under any conditions. With no shelter, save the holes they 
could dig in the ground, without sufficient allowance of fuel, iu a 
wooded country, to cook what little food they were allowed, without 
proper attention to the sick, and forced to use stagnant water that 
was polluted almost like a sewer, and with scarcely any clothing 
or bedding, makes it seem a wonder that any were strong enough 

to survive. 

The position of a prisoner of war is not a pleasant one at 
any time, but brave men scorn to inflict punishment that cannot be 
meted out in open, honorable warfare. It is a fact that those 
who saw the least fighting were most cruel in the treatment of 
prisoners. The further our men were taken from the scene of 
conflict the harder became their lot. 

Confederate prisoners iu our hands were furnished with shel- 
ter and sufficient clothing to prevent suffering, but were not 
furnished the full allowance of food that was issued to our 
troops in the field, for the reason that their lives were inactive, 
save when trying to escape, and they did not need so much, yet 
it was sufficient for any ordinary man and wholesome in quality. 
To eat it all, one would be more likely to fall victim to dyspepsia 
than to suffer from the pangs of hunger. 

Colonel Fox says that during the whole course of the war 
220,000 Confederate soldiers fell into our hands as prisoners of 
war, and out of this number 26,436 died from wounds or disease 
while prisoners in our hands, being a mortality of 12 per cent. 

L26,940 Qnion soldiers fell into Confederate hands, of whom 
22,756 died of wounds or disease iu Confederate prisons, a mor- 
tality of 17. 8 per cent. 

The above figures were taken from - Regimental Losses in 
the Civil War," by Col. William F. Fox, page 50, and purport 
to have been taken from official records in the War Department. 

Our attention was Called to them as being erroneous, and we 

ma de further researches for reliable information. A foot noti- 
on page 50, above referred to, after referring to "imperfect 
records," says : "The mortality of Qnion prisoners, as shown by 
the graves, has been estimated at 36,401." This shows that 
Colonel F'>x considered his estimate too small. 



349 



The editor of The National Tribune of Washington, D.C., 
made a careful and extensive research through the records of the 
War Department ; we wrote requesting him to furnish us with 
the result of it, and in reply received the following : — 

Office of The National Tribune, 

Washington, D.C., June 13, 1896. 

Respectfully returned. The number of U.S. troops captured dur- 
ing the War of the Rebellion was 221,008, of whom 16,431 were 
paroled. The number of Confederates captured was 476,169, of whom 
248,599 were paroled. The large number paroled is accounted for 
from the troops captured at Vicksburg, and those incident to the final 
surrender. The records of Southern prisons, in possession of the 
government, are very incomplete. The death registers have not been 
secured from Americus, Atlanta and Augusta, Ga , Camp Ford at Tyler, 
Texas, Camp Oglethorpe at Macon, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Lynchburg, 
Va., Marietta and Savannah, Ga., Mobile and Montgomery, Ala., and 
Shreveport, La. Only partial records were obtained from these import- 
ant prisons: Cahaba, Ala., Camp Asylum, Columbia and Florence, S.C., 
Millen, Ga., and Salisbury, N.C. 

The incompleteness of the interment record is set forth in a report 
of the Quartermaster-General U.S.A., in 1869, where he says: "It is 
well known that at many places, as, for instance, at Salisbury, N.C., 
and Florence, S.C., the bodies were buried in trenches, often two, three, 
sometimes even four deep ; so that the accurate number of bodies 
interred at these places cannot be determined." 

The facts warrant the belief that the actual number of deaths of 
Union troops in the prison pens of the South very greatly exceeds the 
number shown by the records, which is 29,498. From the known 
number that died at Andersonville, over 13,000, and at Salisbury about 
12,000, and the partially known number that died at other prisons, we 
are safe to estimate the deaths in prison pens of, approximating, 70,000 
Union soldiers, and we believe this estimate is under, rather than over, 
the actual deaths. 

The records of the United States are very complete as to the 
number of deaths of Confederate prisoners, which show a total of 

26,774. 

(Signed) THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, 

Washington, D.C. 

Per W. 

It will be noticed that there is a wide difference between this 
and the result reached by Colonel Fox, though both are supposed 
to have been taken from the same source, but at different dates. 



350 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

If we accept the figures given by The National Tribune we find, 
after deducting the 16,431 who were paroled, that there were 
actually 205,177 Union soldiers held as prisoners of war in the 
South, of which number 70,000 died from various causes, being 
a mortality of over thirty-four per cent. Again, deducting the 
number of Confederate prisoners paroled, 248,599, and we find 
that there were actually confined in Northern prisons, 227,570 
Confederate soldiers, of whom 26,774 died from various causes, 
being a mortality of less than twelve per cent. 

It will be seen that there is a wide difference between the 
statistics given by Colonel Fox and The National Tribune Colonel 
Fox virtually admits an error by stating in a foot-note, "The 
mortality of Union prisoners, as shown by the graves, has been 
estimated at 36,401." It is a fact, well known to those who 
were in Confederate prisons, that their records of deaths and 
burials were very imperfect, and that often two or more would 
be buried in the same grave, or trench, and no record made 
of it. 

When we consider the large number reported as " missing in 
action," and from that take the number who were nevermore 
heard from, we conclude that they either died upon the field of 
battle, or in Confederate prisons. Note such cases in the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, that have been repeatedly mentioned ; 
names of men whose records we have not been able to complete 
from lack of information, and look at the remarks in the roster 
for confirmation of this conclusion. The Fifty-Seventh is no ex- 
ception, in this respect, to other regiments that suffered heavy 
battle losses. 

Some time after the close of the war, 1870 and 1*71, we 
were in the regular service and on duty as quartermaster in 
Columbia, South Carolina. It was reported to us that on the 
opposite side of the river, where there had been a Confederate 
prison camp, there were many unknown graves of Union soldiers. 
We investigated the matter and found such to l>e the fact. Little 
mounds were found through the fields and thickets, which upon 
being opened, were found to contain the hones of Union soldiers. 
In no case could the name or regiment be found, but their 



351 



identity as Union soldiers was shown by the military buttons and 
the partially decayed uniforms, which still clung to them, and 
in which they were buried ; this badge of honor, that clothed 
them in their graves, being their only monument. We caused 
quite a number of these remains to be disinterred and buried in 
the National Cemetery at Florence. There is no doubt but many 
more were scattered through the country that were never found. 
Many perished in the swamps in their endeavor to escape ; the 
savage bloodhounds that were sent in pursuit were not messengers 
of peace or angels of mercy. 

We think Colonel Fox took only the known number of deaths 
in Confederate prisons, as recorded, and made no allowance for 
imperfect Confederate records, while The National Tribune took, 
as a basis of calculation, the whole number of those who were 
knoiun to have fallen into Confederate hands, retained as prisoners 
of war and never again heard from, the reasonable conclusion 
being that they died while prisoners of war. In view of these 
facts we incline to the opinion that the figures given by The 
National Tribune are nearer correct than those by Colonel Fox. 

The consideration of this subject brings us to refer again to 
the extravagant figures given by Pollard in "The Lost Cause," 
quoted on page 325 of this work, who claims that the Confeder- 
ates had only 174,223 men under arms, while the official records 
in the War Department show that the number of Confederates 
captured by our troops was 476,169, or nearly half a million, and 
this is not taking into account the large number known to have 
thrown away their arms and returned to their homes, without the 
formality of a surrender and parole. While we had such a large 
number of Confederate prisoners some one was back in Dixie 
doing "powerful" fighting. Who was it? Could it have been 
that gallant force of women and children under Jefferson Davis 
that was found on the 10th of May, 1865, in the "last ditch" 
near Irwinsville, Ga? 

The greatest percentage of prison mortality was at Ander- 
sonville, where the suffering seemed to be inflicted with a wanton- 
ness that was a disgrace to civilization. Even Confederate 
humanity, when shorn of its malice, protested against it. 



352 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Upon the occasion of General Winder being relieved from 
duty in Richmond and ordered to Andersonville, the Richmond 
Examiner said: "Thank God that Richmond is at last rid of 
old Winder, but God have mercy upon those to whom he has 
been sent." It would appear that the Examiner considered that 
there was no other source of mercy, in the Confederacy, for our 
men who were suffering as prisoners of war. 

The Confederate authorities reported Andersonville as a 
"healthy locality, plenty of pure good water, a running stream, 
and, if possible, shade trees, and in the immediate neighborhood 
of grist and saw mills." They also claim that the food issued to 
the prisoners there was the same in quantity and quality as that 
issued to their own soldiers who were the guard, that the cause of 
those who suffered from insufficiency of food was because they 
traded it for whiskey and tobacco, and that one great cause of 
the unusual mortality was that the prisoners themselves " mani- 
fested a most abominable disregard of all sanitary regulations." 
They also alleged that our government was wholly indifferent to 
the sufferings of its own men who were prisoners of war, and re- 
fused to enter into negotiations for exchange. Such statements, 
at one time, gained considerable credence among the prisoners 
who were not acquainted with the circumstances. In the first 
place, the Confederates demanded an equal exchange of all pris- 
oners, man for man, and officer for officer of like grade, all the 
surplus held by our government to be released on parole. It had 
been the practice of the Confederate government to declare 
paroled prisoners exchanged where none had been given up from 
their prison pens. This was notably the case with those who 
surrendered to General Grant at Vicksburg, nearly all of whom 
were found again in the Confederate army before having been 
properly exchanged. Such breaches of faith had taught the Fed- 
eral authorities a lesson. The Confederates finally modified their 
request so far as to ask for an equal exchange man for man, but 
even this nave them an immense advantage, as fully seventy-five 
per eeni of their men would return in good physical condition, to 
again take the field at once, while not ten per cent of our men 
returning from Andersonville would be able to take the field for 




W. H. WHIPPLE, 

Co. K, 57th Mass. 



353 



weeks, or perhaps mouths, and not more than one-half of them 
were ever able to return to duty. 

The question of exchange is beyoud our province. The war 
is over and we have no desire to rake up the horrors of it anew or 
to tear open the wounds that time has healed. It should be the 
duty of those who battled for our country to treasure only those 
feelings of charity and fraternity, which permit us to remember 
the gall of bitterness as only the dregs of cruel war, aud some- 
thing we cannot think of with pleasure, and would, therefore, 
gladly forget. We fought for the restoration of our Union, and to 
bring these people back into it again. After having accomplished 
this at a great sacrifice, let us not taunt them with their defeat or 
the wrongs they committed at a time when the bitter passions of 
war rose to such a high pitch. In order to carry on a war there 
must of necessity be a bitter feeliug coupled with a firm belief in 
the justice of the cause. Without this there could be no war. 

The Federal soldier can rejoice in the great victory won and 
can afford to bury all feelings of animosity in eternal oblivion. 
The Confederate soldier, too, has reason to rejoice in a reunited 
country and can feel a just pride in his gallant record upon many 
a bloody field. But his deeds were those of an American and as 
such we are proud to see them written upon the pages of Ameri- 
can history. There are a few yet who still love to cherish a 
sentiment for the " Lost Cause," as it forms a sort of romantic 
halo around the memories of the past. If the prize for which 
they so gallantly contended were offered them now, without a 
single sacrifice, we believe they would spurn it with contempt and 
stand up manfully and loyally for the old flag. 

It is natural for them, as well as for us, to treasure the memory 
of past associations which will ever remain dear to them. Hav- 
ing deprived them of their cause we do not seek to rob them of 
the memories which cluster around their gallant achievements. 
On many occasions the two have met since the war in a feeling of 
fraternity and friendship. We can sit down and talk over our 
old battles together with no feeling of animosity. 



23 



CHAPTER XVII. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 

Still one in life and one in death. 

One in the hope of rest above : 
One in onr joy, our trust, our faith, 

One in each other's faithful love." 



^^§^ 




our long association, it is not strange that 
some unpleasant incidents arose to disturb the har- 
mony of our relations, where injustice was done 
and erroneous judgments made. Such was but the 
natural result of the bringing together of so mauy men 
from different sections, with different dispositions, under 
new and strange conditions, and where the majority bad 
not known each other before. The Fifty-Seventh was no different 
in this respect from other regiments ; but all this has long since 
been buried with the dead past and we find no pleasure in calling 
it again to mind. We wish to treasure only that which was good 
and right and which contributed to the welfare of our common 
cause, forgetting all else. Ties that are formed at times when 
the souls of men are stirred from their very depths, and the 
swaying passions are driven impetuously forward, through the 
breakers, in a struggle of life and death, are stronger and more 
enduring than those formed under the ordinary conditions of 
social life. 

After the close of the war, and comrades had become widely 
separated, as the stirring scenes of the past presented themselves 
to our minds, these ties became stronger and it was felt that 
something should be done to keep alive those memories which we 
had learned to prize so dearly. With this object in view the idea 
was conceived of forming an organization to be known as " The 



356 lll'TY-SKVKM II REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Fifty-Seventh Regimental Association," which was to meet at 
some convenient place once each } T ear to renew onr old relations 
of fraternity and to keep alive that feeling of comradeship that 
had sprung from past associations in camp and field. 

On the 6th of May, 1867, about sixty of the members of the 
old regiment met at the Bay State House in Worcester, and organ- 
ized "The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Regimental Association." 
Gen. William F. Bartlett was elected President, with one non- 
commissioned officer from each company as Vice-Presidents. 
Lieut. George E. Priest was elected Secretary and Lieut. Charles 
H. Pinkham, Treasurer. 

A committee was appointed to formulate and report a 
preamble, which was adopted, expressing the object of the 
Association, as follows: "To perpetuate the memory of the 
regiment, and to bring the members together for social reunion, 
and to benefit each other by sympathy, influence and pecuniary 
aid, when needed." An assessment of one dollar each year was 
voted upon all members which was to be the basis of a fund for 
the benefit of the members of the Association, those unable to 
pay to he admitted free. By-laws were adopted, after which the 
meeting adjourned. 

The Second Annual Reunion was held m the city of Worces- 
ter, .May 6th, 1*68, when Bvt.-Maj. II. L. Swords was elected 
President . 

The following resolutions were adopted, and ordered printed, 
on the deaths of Lieut. -Col. J. M. Tucker and ('apt. John L. 
Goodwin: — 

Whereas, since our Last reunion, our heavenly Father has seen lit 
to call t<> their final reward, our comrades Col. .1. M. Tucker ami Capt. 
John L.Goodwin; therefore be it 

Resolved, Thai we sustain an irreparable loss in the death of these 
tried brothers who marched with us. fonghl with us ami were wounded 
severely while connected u it h us. 

Resolved, That, in this affliction we are consoled by the fad that 
they are removed Forever from the danger of wounds and their sufferings 
ha\ e ceased. 

Resolved, Thai we remember with pleasure their bravery, ability 
ami -cut lemanly conduct . 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 357 

Eesolved, That we otter our heartfelt sympathy to the father who 
■was made proud by the gallantry of his sou and the widow who cheer- 
fully gave her husband to the cause of her country. 

The Third Annual Reunion was held in Worcester, Ma}- 6th, 
1869. Capt. Charles D. Hollis was elected President About 
thirty of the members were present who partook of a dinner at 
the Lincoln House. After renewing old associations and remi- 
niscences of camp and field life, the Association adjourned. 

The Fourth Annual Reunion was held in Lincoln Hall, 
Worcester, on the 6th day of May, 1870. Capt Charles D. 
Hollis was re-elected President. Dinner was again served at the 
Lincoln House, and after a pleasant intercourse the Association 
adjourned. 

The Fifth Annual Reunion was held at the Lincoln House, 
May 6th, 1871. Dinner was served as usual, after which some 
time was spent in recounting old scenes of field and camp. Capt. 
Charles D. Hollis was again re-elected President by acclamation. 

The Sixth Annual Reunion was held in Lincoln Hall, 
Worcester, May 6th, 1872. Capt. George E. Barton was elected 
President. Letters were read from Generals Burnside and 
Bartlett expressing their sympathies with the objects of the 
reunions and regrets that previous engagements would not permit 
of their being present. A generous sum was subscribed to aid in 
the erection of a memorial tablet over the grave of the late Gov. 
John A. Andrew, at Hingham. After partaking of an excellent 
dinner, some time was devoted to social reunion and renewal of 
the old ties of friendship. 

The Seventh Annual Reunion was held in Lincoln Hall, 
Worcester, May 6th, 187o. At the business meeting, Bvt.-Maj. 
John H. Cook was elected President. Many letters were read 
from absent members who were unable, from various causes, to 
be present. Measures were adopted for pleasure at future re- 
unions and to awaken a greater interest in the welfare and per- 
petuity of the Association. The deaths of Commissary Sergeant 
David F. Lawry and George R. Edgecomb were reported, and 
resolutions adopted as follows : — 



358 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. YnU'NTEERS. 

Whereas, We have, on this day of our reunion, received the sad 
intelligence of the deaths of our comrades David F. La-wry and George R. 
Edgecomb; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we, as an association, and as comrades, while testi- 
fying our regard for our late comrades, both as brothers and soldiers, do 
tender our heartfelt sympathy to their bereaved families, feeling assured 
that what is their loss will be our comrades' gain. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the 
families of the deceased. 

It was decided to hold the next annual reunion as a picnic 
party at Lake Quinsigamond, on the 30th of July, in commemo- 
ration of the battle at the explosion of the mine before Peters- 
burg, Va. 

The Eighth Annual Reunion was accordingly held upon the 
shores of the beautiful Lake Quinsigamond, near Worcester, 
July 30th, 1874. Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook was re-elected Presi- 
dent. The attendance was larger than at any former reunion. 
The dinner at the Quinsigamond House reminded the comrades of 
what they had been accustomed to in the field, and was regarded 
as a success in that direction, and probably helped to bring back 
old associations when the commissary department was not in 
good working order. 

After partaking of rations a social meeting was held in a 
grove near the house. Addresses were delivered by Captains 
Cook and Priest, and a very appropriate little poem read by 
Dr. Heath. After singing " Aulcl Lang Syne," the comrades 
returned to Worcester by the narrow gauge railroad, where, after 
handshakings, they separated. 

The Ninth Annual Reunion was held in the city of Fitch- 
bur-, July 30th, 1875, by invitation of members of Company F. 
< aptain Lawrence received the comrades in behalf of the company 
n, a very appropriate address of welcome, which was eloquently 
responded to by Bvt.-Maj. John II. Cook. The welcome al Fitch- 
burg wasa cordial one and the generous hospitality extended the 
visiting comrades was one greatly appreciated and long to be 
remembered. 

No town or city in Massachusetts excelled Fitchburg in 
unswerving loyalty and devotion to the Union during the wai 



if i 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 359 

This reunion will long be remembered as one of the most pleasant 
in the history of the regiment. The whole city seemed to catch 
the spirit of fraternity which these men had met to perpetuate. 

Upon this occasion Chaplain Dashiell delivered a very elo- 
quent and touching address upon "Our Dead and Their Claims 
upon Us." He very ably followed the regiment through the 
various battles in which it participated and paid a fitting tribute 
to those brave and loyal men who answered their country's call 
and laid down their lives in its defence, mentioning the names of 
Chandler, Doherty, Howe, Dresser, Cheney, Bowman, Prescott, 
Murdock, Coe and several of the enlisted men. 

Among other things, he spoke of the important duty that 
would devolve upon the historian of the Fifty-Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, in preserving the record of that gallant old regiment and 
the valiant deeds of those who made it. We, the historian, feel 
the importance of such a task which we know all are anticipating, 
yet to do the subject justice, requires a pen wielded with more 
than human power and eloquence. Not one, from the highest 
officer down to the private soldier, who sacrificed his life upon the 
altar of his country, but merits a volume larger than this, which 
is only a small exponent of what is due them. The memory of 
their deeds is immortal. 

The following resolution was adopted : — 

Whereas, The names of Comrades James H. Holland, James Welch, 
John E. Grout and Luther C. Hawkins have been stricken from the 
muster roll on earth, and added to our larger one above; 

Resolved, That we remember with pleasure their good record, that 
we regret their transfer and sympathize with their mourning relatives. 

Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook was again re-elected President. A 
vote of thanks was extended to the members of Company F for 
their hospitality and to Chaplain Dashiell for his able address. 
It was voted to hold the next reunion in Boston. After singing 
" Auld Lang Syne" the members dispersed. 

The Tenth Annual Reunion was held in the city of Boston, 
July 30th, 1876. Upon this occasion a deviation was made from 
the ordinary course and the steam yacht Emily was chartered to 



360 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



sail down the harbor and around the lovely little islands which 
stud it like jewels in a crown. A business meeting- was held on 
the downward trip, in which Capt. George E. Priest was elected 
President for the ensuing year. 

Resolutions of regret were adopted that the illness of General 
Bartlett prevented his being present and for the deaths during tin- 
previous year of Frank Wellman and Cephas Pasco. 

After cruising along Nantasket beach, a stop was made at 
Long Island, where dinner was served at the hotel. Upon the 
return trip a stop was made at Fort Warren to leave Colonel 
Randol, U.S. Army, who was a guest of the Association. Boston 
was reached just after dark. The comrades joined hands in an 
unbroken circle, and after singing Burns' immortal " Auld Lang 
S3 T iit-. "' adjourned, to meet again in Worcester, July 30th, 1*77. 

The Eleventh Annual Reunion was held in Worcester as per 
previous adjournment, .Inly 30th, 1877. The attendance was 
unusually large and matters of interest considered, the greatest 
of which was that of the death of General Bartlett. As we have 
already noticed the eulogies that were pronounced in honor of his 
memory, we will not repeat them. The following resolutions 
were adopted : — 

Whereas, God, in His providence, lias removed from us our old 
commander and friend, (Jen. William Francis Bartlett. we. the surviving 
members of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, in reunion 
assembled, do therefore, 

"Resolve, That the approbation that attaches to his name is war- 
ranted bj a character ami career not less brilliant than the patriotism 
that Inspired it: that as a soldier his name stands synonymous with pure 
patriotism, loyalty to duty ami dignified and unflinching bravery, and as 
a man he possessed the qualities that made an estimable citizen ami a 
Sincere and esteemed friend. 

A* < solvi (I , Thai whatever of honor associates itself with the record 

of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, was in n<> small part the inspiration of 
bis character ami example, and we claim a jusl pride in recording the 

I :ot t hat he » ;is our commander. 

Resolved, Thai we mourn his loss with profound and abiding 

grief, and cherlsb bis me ry with fond esteem ami deep affection; 

and. reluctantly Intruding the circle of domestic grief, we delicately 
Put tenderly extend our -\mpath\ to wife, children and parents, and 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 361 

ask that the tears of his old soldiers may mingle with theirs upon his 
grave. 

Eesolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his 
family and to his parents, and that they be entered upon the records of 
the Association. 

Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook then spoke upon the resolutions 

and delivered a lengthy address in eulogy of General Bartlett, 
speaking in eloquent language of the love and honor which the 
surviving comrades bore their old commander, and gave a brief 
sketch of his life and military service, of his great magnanimity 
towards those who had been in arms against our country, and 
showing the examples of his life and spotless character to be 
worthy of emulation, saying: "Such men can never die. The 
grave may swallow up that which we know of form and feature. 
but behind will remain forces and tendencies which they set in 
motion, which will forever grow and multiply. For every tear 
that falls on graves like his, some good is born, some virtue grows 
to walk the earth and bless it with its presence. Though dead, 
he speaks, and future generations are his audiences." 

Chaplain A. H. Dashiell also paid a very beautiful tribute to 
his memory, and spoke of the great love he bore for him as a 
personal friend. 

H. F. Chandler of Lawrence was elected President for the 
ensuing year, after which the company broke up with the familiar 
strains of " Auld Lang S} T ne." 

The Twelfth Annual Reunion was held at Westboro, July 
30th, 1878. The business meeting was held in the rooms of the 
Westboro Reform Club. Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook was again 
elected President. Letters were read from absent members re- 
gretting their inability to be present. A letter was read from 
J. Brainerd Hall announcing the death of Capt. George E. Barton, 
which took place in the city of Worcester, Wednesday, May 29th, 
1878, and communicating to the Association the resolutions 
adopted by the members in Worcester of the 51st and 57th regi- 
ments at a meeting held by them to take action in reference to his 
death and funeral, and recommending that they be entered upon 
the records, which recommendation was adopted. The resolu- 
tions were as follows : — 



302 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Whereas, We, the members of the 51st and 57th regiments of 
Massachusetts Volunteers, have heard of the final muster-out of our old 
comrade and friend George E. Barton, late Sergeaut-Major of the 51st 
and Captain of the 57th ; therefore be it 

Resolved, That we, his associates in the camp, on the march, in the 
field and the hospital, cherish his memory as an aflectiouate comrade in 
arms, a brave soldier, loyal to his country and comrades and of unflinch- 
ing bravery in the hour of danger. 

Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to his bereaved 
family, to his aged mother, who has been the silent author of so many 
kind acts to the soldiers in her boy's command, and to his brothers, who 
have, in every sense of the word, been the soldiers' true friends. 

Resolved, That we send a floral tribute to be placed upon the casket, 
that we attend the funeral in a body, and that a copy of these resolutions 
be sent to his family. 

Dinner was served at the Westboro House. The place of 
meeting for the following year was left to the officers of the 
Association. 

The Thirteenth Annual Reunion was again held at Fitchburg, 
July 30th, 1879. Maj. E. P. Gould was elected President for the 
ensuing year. After the business meeting letters were read 
from absent members. Resolutions were again adopted by the 
Association in relation to the death of Captain Barton. Bvt.-Maj. 
John II. Cook then paid the following tribute to his memory: — 

" I cannot let this occasion pass without expressing in my 
poor way my feelings in regard to these resolutions and the 
deceased comrade to whom they refer. My association with the 
regimenl was so short and disjointed, that I could not well, from 
i nit my own recollections, weave the thread of his life into a con- 
nected historical recital. It is not my purpose to relate the story 
of his life, but to briefly speak of him as a comrade and a warm 
personal friend. The period of my military association with him 
was short, covering only the winter at Camp Wool, together with 

the time intervening between the battle of June 1 7th, 1864, and 

the J 1 st of thi' following month. 

•• During the winter at Camp Wool he was one of my most 
intimate associates, and during my brief service in the field he 

was my bunkmate, and the nearest and dearesl of all my com- 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 363 

rades. To say that I loved him would but poorly express the 
emotions of my heart. I loved him dearly, and rather as a 
brother than as a comrade. I can recall no army comrade who 
shared my confidence and love to a larger extent than did he, 
and I believe it was all reciprocated by him. Nor did this attach- 
ment end with the ending of our military association, but con- 
tinued till his death. 

"Asa comrade I remember him as a brave soldier and a 
kind and generous companion ; as a friend he was constant and 
affectionate. His native qualities were of that character which 
go to make a noble manhood. His presence, even in the darkest 
hours, was always a ray of sunlight. However dark the situation, 
whatever clouds obscured the sky, in sickness or in health, he was 
always the same bright sunny self. 

' ' I desire to speak of one quality he possessed to an extraor- 
dinary degree. I allude to the amiability of his character. He 
was of the most loving temperament. Who of you ever knew 
him to be in an angry mood? Presuming on our intimate friend- 
ship, I have often chided him, even to harshness, for some real 
or fancied error I thought was his, but even when a sense of jus- 
tice might have prompted him into angry retort, he would, with a 
joke and cheery laugh, pass it off as unworthy of resentment. 
He was a person of whom it might be said that to know him was 
to love him. 

" Another noble quality in him was frankness; and I might 
almost say that this characteristic was so prominent as to be his 
besetting sin. Hypocrisy found no abiding place in him. His 
life was an open book to be read by all who chose to read. 
Whatever his actions or conduct, he never shut them from the 
light of day. To deny that his life had errors, would be to deny 
his humanity and our right to fellowship with him. But whatever 
they may have been, over them all I draw a mantle of charity. 

"Far be it from me to sit in judgment over him or you. 
Ringing down through nearly nineteen centuries, I hear that 
command ' Judge not lest ye be judged,' and I say my life's too 
short, my time too scarce and I'm too wicked to sit in judgment 
on my fellow-men. But that he and you had and have virtues, I 



,i(',l 



FIFTY-SEA F.NTII REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



shall pause to note, content that God knows the chaff and wheat, 
and that His tender mercy in the time to come, will winnow out 
the golden grains for the eternal husbandry of heaven. Farewell, 
sweet, gentle spirit; you were not perfect till death made you so; 
you had your share, no more, of human errors, but death has 
freed thee. You will never meet us here again, but a green and 
loving memory shall ever mark thy presence with us. Never 
more will ' Auld Lang Syne ' be sung, but there will come to us a 
note of sadness in its strains, for the voice of our chorister, who, 
joining hands, led off with the melody of a happy heart, is hushed 
forever. 

" And now, one more word to you, my comrades. Let us 
not in the hour of sadness forget thai it has its admonitions also. 
I little thought two years ago, when in Worcester, I bade our 
comrade good by, I next should see his straightened form 
coffined for the grave. Who was there then among us who had 
apparently greater hopes for a long and happy life? But another 
star has fallen and he is gone. Another chair is vacant at our 
board never to be filled. Today we commence another year 
whose closing is beyond mortal ken. What events are confined 
within its borders we cannot tell. In the ordering of nature, we, 
too, shall pass along down to that shore that men call death and 
cross over to the other side. Being ever mindful that as we push 
this anniversary day forward into the future our members will 
decrease, let us resolve, that as our little circle narrows down, 
through the memories of those that have gone before, we will 
grow in fraternal love and fellowship each for one another." 

The Fourteenth Annual Reunion was held at the Bay State 
House, in the city of Worcester, June 17th. L880. About thirty- 
five members were present. At the business meeting F. M. 
Barrington of Northboro was chosen President, and the following 
resolutions adopted in relation to comrades who had died during 

the previous year : — 

i;< soh-i d . Thai we have heard with sorrow of the deaths during the 
pasl year of Comrades Walter R. Poster of Worcester, of Company II. 
David N. Ohapin of Westboro, of Company B, George Wellman of New 
York City, of Company n, Michael O'Donnell of Fitchburg, of Company 
F and .lames n Raymond of Worcester, all of the Fifty-Seventh. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 365 

Resolved, That in these men we found brave soldiers, tried cora- 
rades and good citizens, and we sincerely mourn their departure 
from us. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the records of the 
Association, and copies sent to the families of the deceased. 

Letters were read from absent members and, after the usual 
proceedings, the Association adjourned. 

The Fifteenth Annual Reunion was held at the Bay State 
House in Worcester. June 17th, 1881. In the absence of the 
President, J. Brainerd Hall was chosen President pro /<■,,(. 
The usual number were present. After an informal meeting the 
Association marched to Rural Cemetery and decorated the graves 
of deceased comrades. 

Subsequently at a business meeting the following resolution 
was adopted : — 

Eesolced, That the Association has heard with unfeigned sorrow of 
the deaths during the past year of Lieut. Henry M. Ide and Comrade 
William A. Moore, and here record a high estimate of their services as 
soldiers, and tender our sincere sympathy to bereaved friends. 

At the business meeting, after dinner, F. M. Harrington of 
Northboro was re-elected President. The time and place of the 
next meeting was left to the officers. 

The Sixteenth Annual Reunion was held in Grand Army 
Hall, Worcester, June 17th, 1882, and was well attended. The 
secretary announced the following deaths in the Association 
during the year: John Teague, July 1st, 1881, and Warren 
Grimes of Salem, about May 18th, 1882. Resolutions of respect 
to their memory were adopted. F. M. Harrington was again 
re-elected President. 

The Seventeenth Annual Reunion was held at the United 
States Hotel, Worcester, June 17th, 1883. About seventy-tivf 
members of the two organizations (57th and 59th) were present. 
The time was pleasantly spent in reminiscences of army life and 
personal incidents both serious and ludicrous. 

The deaths during the previous year were reported of Lieut. 
James Peacock of Worcester, Comrades Amasa B. Bemis of 



366 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VoLCNTEERS. 



Springfield and Augustus J. Trussell. Resolutious iu houor of 
their memory were adopted. 

A roll of houor of those who enlisted from the Uuiversalist 
Sunday school of Worcester was exhibited by Comrade Charles 
Goodwin, brother of John L. Goodwiu, who is an honorary mem- 
ber of the Association, containing the following names of those of 
the Sunday school who enlisted in the Fifty-Seventh and gave 
their lives for their country, viz. : Captr. John L. Goodwin, Sergt. 
William E. Park, Corp. Henry L. Park, Walter R. Foster and 
Charles E. Young. A poem, composed for the occasion by 
Dr. Heath of Lee, was read by him. Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook 
of Boston was elected President. After voting to hold the next 
reunion in Worcester the Association adjourned. 

The Eighteenth Annual Reunion was held in Temperance 
Hall, Worcester, June 17th, 1884. The reunion was attended by a 
number of distinguished individuals, both civic and military. The 
President, Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook, called the attention of com- 
rades to the necessity of making a greater effort to bring out a 
larger attendance and all were called upon to report, as far as 
known, the addresses of the surviving members of the Association 
and more especially to report the death of any member, in order 
that a record of it could be made. It was hoped that in this way 
a roster could be made which would be approximately correct. 

During the previous winter a circular had been sent to each 
member asking him to send to the Secretary the name and address 
of each known comrade. The circular did not receive the attention 
it merited and but few replies were made. More was accom- 
plished through an extended correspondence with various G.A.R. 
Posts, officers of towns and large personal correspondence. This 
involved extra expense and funds for the purpose were subscribed. 
Captain Priest made great efforts, and, to a certain extent, was 
successful. 

An adoption of by-laws was recommended for the direction 
of the Association, as a relief to the officers, and to prevent the 
unwarranted and injudicious use of the name of the Association. 
Events often occur requiring prompl action, the death of members, 
etc. Major Cook Bpoke with much feeling of the tragic death of 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 367 

Captain Lawrence, who was lost on the City of Columbus, and 
Brevet-Major Hitchcock gave a brief sketch of his life. Resolu- 
tions were adopted in honor of his memory, also three others 
whose deaths had been reported, viz. : Capt. John W. Sanderson, 
Amos A. Dodge and Asa D. Burleigh, the latter from the effects 
of a wound received in the battle of the Wilderness. He was a 
brave soldier of Company E, a genial companion and an upright 
man. Flowers were contributed for the tables from the grounds 
of Hon. Stephen Salisbury, in memory of the late Capt. George E. 
Barton. There was also a large basket of flowers in memory of 
deceased comrades who went from the Uuiversalist Sunday school. 

After dinner a committee was appointed to visit the graves 
of the deceased members who are buried in Worcester and these 
flowers were placed upon them. 

Dr. W. Y. White of New York then delivered an address on 
the " Surgeon's Report of Incidents on the March from Alexan- 
dria to Burke's Station, Ya.," relating incidents and giving sta- 
tistics of battle losses. He spoke of the courage required of men 
who were ordered from duty in the rear to the front while the regi- 
ment was in front of Petersburg. "Between the 17th and 30th 
of June it was considered almost a sentence of death to be sent 
to the front, but not a single man of the Fifty-Seventh ever 
faltered." 

The following poem, composed by Dr. Charles E. Heath, was 
then read by him : — 

May we all remember that time's footsteps fly 

Swiftly ; the years quickly roll 

Far into the past, and back as a scroll 

They fade away as a vision of the night 

That vanishes ere the coming of light : 

For ere the bright sun makes the glimmer of dawn. 

All the bright visions of dreamland are gone. 

Then let us be doing as onward we're whirled, 
By the swift rolling years, alouir in the world : 
May we remember, and take earnest heed, 
To set lots of fun and our share of feed. 



:.}.;* 



hTKTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOIA NTKl'.liS. 



Tbeu came an address, " The Day We Celebrate,'" by ('apt. 
Frederick Cochrane of the 59th, in which he vividly described the 
preparations for and the charge of the First Brigade. A com- 
mittee was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, to be 
reported at the next reunion. Capt. Frederick Cochrane was 
unanimously elected President for the ensuing year, and finally 
this, one of the most interesting reunions since the organization 
was established, closed by all joining in singing " Marching 
through Georgia." 

The Nineteenth Annual Reunion was held in Temperance 
Hall, Worcester, .June 17th, 1885. Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook, 
in behalf of the committee that had been appointed to draft 
constitution and by-laws, reported the following : — 

PREAMBLE. 

To preserve the associations, attachments and memories of our 
army life; to guard with jealous pride and care the honor ami glory of 
our regiment; to strengthen and perpetuate the fraternal tits that hind 
us together; to assist. a> we may he able, such of our comrades as are in 
need ; and to the end that we may keep in the minds of later generations 
the sacrifices made to establish and perpetuate the principles for which 
we fought, we. the surviving members of the 57th and 59th Regiments 
Massachusetts Volunteers, both for ourselves and in tender and loving 
memory of our deceased comrades, do unite ourselves in a common 
organization and establish the following rules for our guidance and 
government : — 

('( INSTITUTION. 
Article I. 

NAME. 

This organization shall be known as the .">7tli and 59th Regiments 
\ ssociation. 

Article ii. 

MEMBERS. 

Every person formerly a member, in whatever capacity, of the 57th 
ami :.'.uh Regiments Massachusetts Volunteers, shall be eligible to mem- 
bership ami entitled to all rights and privileges, subject only to such 
rules a-- may be hereafter adopted. 

Honorary membership may be allowed, bm only on a two-thirds 
vote '"' all members preBenl at a regular meeting; bul no person 




JOSEPH W. HILL, 



Corp. Co. K, 57th Mass. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 369 

granted an honorary membership shall be allowed to vote on any matter 
coming before the business meetings of the Association, nor shall they 
be permitted to hold any of the offices enumerated in the succeeding 
article. 

Article III. 

officers. 

The officers of the Association shall be as follows: a President, 

four Vice-Presidents, Quartermaster, Adjutant, Sergeant-Major and 

Finance Committee of three; and these officers, in a corporate capacity, 

shall constitute and be known as the " Board of Administration." 

Article IV. 

OFFICERS, HOW SELECTED. 

The President, Vice-Presidents, Quartermaster, Sergeant-Major 
and Finance Committee, shall be chosen by ballot at the annual meeting 
Of the Association, and the Adjutant shall be appointed by the President. 

Article V. 

DUTIES OF OFFICERS. 

President. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Asso- 
ciation and enforce its rules. He shall approve all bills before payment, 
but only after the same have been audited and properly certified by the 
Finance Committee. 

Vice-Presidents. Either of the Vice-Presidents may act as President 
in the absence of that officer, but if neither of them are present the 
Association may elect a President pro tempore. 

Quartermaster. It shall be the duty of the Quartermaster to take 
charge of the funds of the Association, and his honor as a man and a 
soldier shall be a sufficient bond for his faithful performance of duty. 
He shall receive all moneys from whatever source and shall disburse the 
same, but only on vouchers properly certified to have been audited by 
the Finance Committee and approved by the President. He shall keep, 
in a book provided for that purpose, an itemized record of all moneys 
received and disbursed, and shall make report of the same at each annual 
meeting of the Association. On the election of his successor in office, 
he shall turn over to him all books and papers in his possession belong- 
ing to the Association. 

Adjutant. The Adjutant shall have charge of the correspondence 
of the Association, and be at times subject to the direction of the Presi- 
dent. He shall keep, in a book provided for that purpose, the names 
and post-office addresses of all members of the Association, which list 
he shall keep as full and correct as possible. He shall beep, in a book 
provided for that purpose, a copy of all communications forwarded, and 



24 



370 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



a file book in which shall be preserved all communications received, and 
upon the appointment of his successor in office, shall turn over to him 
all books and papers in his possession belonging to the Association. 

Sergeant-Major. The Sergeant-Major shall have charge of the rec- 
ords of the Association. He shall be present at each business meeting, 
and carefully record all its transactions. He shall keep a book provided 
for that purpose, in "which shall be carefully and legibly written the con- 
stitution and rules of the Association, and to "which such rules, as may 
be subsequently adopted, shall be added. He shall also keep a book pro- 
vided for that purpose, iu which shall be carefully "written a record of 
the transactions of each meeting, the same to be read, corrected, ac- 
cepted and approved at the next subsequent meeting, and on the election 
of his successor in office, shall turn over to him all books and papers in 
his possession belonging to the Association. 

Finance < 'ommittee. It shall be the duty of the Finance Committee 
to levy and collect all assessments made upon members and turn the 
-anie into the hands of the Quartermaster. It shall also audit all bills, 
before the same are approved by the President or paid. 

Board of Administration. The Board of Administration shall have 
general charge of the business affairs of the Association and three of its 
members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The 
President shall be chairman and the Adjutant secretary of the board. It 
may determine the time and place of the annual meetings (when the 
same shall not have been specified by the Association) and may provide 
such entertainments as may be necessary or desirable on such occasions. 
It shall have power to take official notice of the death or misfortune of 
any comrade, and is authorized to act for the Association in such emer- 
gency according to its judgment, but nothing herein contained shall be 
construed as allowing it to commit the Association, or use its name in 
any business or political enterprise. 

Article VI. 
meetings. 
The meetings of the Association shall be held annually. 

Article VII. 
constitutional amendmen is. 
This constitution shall not be altered or amended, excepl i>\ a two- 
thirds vote of all presenl al a regular meeting, and shall nol be acted on 
.it any regular meeting unless a written notice, specifying the proposed 
amendment, has been given al i tie regular meeting immediately preceding. 

The report of the committee was accepted and the foregoing 
constitution adopted. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 371 

Frank W. Bullard was elected President for the ensuing 
year. Comrade E. P. Gould delivered an address on "The 
Battle of the Wilderness." The Association then adjourned to 
meet again in Worcester, June 17th, 1886. The record does not 
show that any deaths were reported. 

The Twentieth Annual Reunion was held in Worcester, June 
17th, 1886. Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook presented a design for a 
regimental badge and submitted a sample which was adopted. 
It consists of a black aud blue enamel knapsack, with gold 
trimmings, the number of the regiment in the centre and a Ninth 
Army Corps badge attached to a red ribbon, the color of the First 
Division of the corps. H. F. Chandler of Lawrence was chosen 
President. The deaths of comrades Isaac A. Woodcock of 
Worcester and Charles Timon of Brooklyn, N.Y., both of the 
Fifty-Seventh, were reported, and the following resolution was 
adopted : — 

Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to remove from our 
ranks below into the grand army above, our comrades Charles Timon 
and Isaac A. Woodcock, 

Besolved, That we recognize them as faithful soldiers, true to their 
country, and that we extend to the families of the deceased our sym- 
pathy in their hour of bereavement. 

After voting to hold the next reunion on the battlefield of 
Petersburg, Va., the Association adjourned. 

The Twenty-first Annual Reunion was held at the Albemarle 
Hotel, Petersburg, Va., May 6th, 1887. 

At the business meeting Bvt.-Capt. Charles H. Pinkham of 
Worcester was re-elected President. 

This reunion was a new departure from any of the previous 
ones. It had been arranged for an excursion to the old battle- 
fields of Virginia. The excursion was not confined to the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts alone, but the other regiments from this 
State that participated in the battles in Virginia were invited to 
join. The party was made up of about one hundred veterans. 
Proceeding first to Petersburg, they visited places made historical 
by their association with the long siege and bloody battles fought 



372 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLl NTKIIIS. 

in that vicinity. The battlefields of Cold Harbor, Spottsylvauia 
Court House, Wilderness, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville 
were visited, as well as Libby Prison and points of interest 
around Richmond. The party returned by way of Washington, 
Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, making short stops at each 

place. 

The National Cemetery at Arlington was one of the places 

visited. At Fortress Monroe, Col. John C. Tidball, U.S. Army, 

the officer in command, extended every courtesy to the visitors. 

The itinerary covered several days and was enjoyed by all, not 

only as one of pleasure, but as a means of bringing together, in 

friendly relations, those who fought on opposite sides. Space 

will not permit a detailed account, although the significant 

features of it would make an interesting volume, the most 

remarkable being the reception and cordial greeting given to the 

" Yankees " by the " Johnnie Rebs." Those who had once been 

deadly enemies, met again face to face upon the old historic 

battle-grounds, and recounted incidents and adventures with a 

genuine feeling of fraternal love, not by descendants, but by 

those who had been actual participants, and struggled, through 

fields of blood, for the mastery. 

Seldom in the world's history has such a scene been wit- 
nessed. When the two armies were grappling in a death struggle 
along down between Washington and Richmond, could the veil 
that hides the future have been removed and this picture presented 
to view, there would have been a sudden transformation from 
ghastly battlefields to the pleasanl paths of peace. We briefly 

notice a few incidents. 

One of the Petersburg papers of May 3d, L887, publishes the 
following in its columns : 

''Once again is Petersburg captured by a northern host. 
This lime, however, she opposes no resistance, but surrenders 
unconditionally tO • OUl friends, the enemy.' The .Massachusetts 

veterans, who arrived Inst evening, came in light marching order, 

hut we shall be much surprised, if when they come to leave, they 

will uol find themselves weighted down with chains: the chains 
of fraternal friendship; each link of which is forged nut of the 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 373 

warm regard that the honest ' Reb ' feels for the honest ' Yank.' 
We bid our Massachusetts friends most hearty welcome to the 
old Cockade City." 

The Union Veterans were met at the railroad depot by the 
Petersburg Artillery, the Petersburg Grays and a number of 
Confederate veterans. A salute of twenty-four guns was fired in 
honor of the visitors, who were then escorted by the military, not 
to Libby or Belle Isle, but to the Albermarle Hotel, where a 
sumptuous repast was awaiting them, viands that would have 
made the hungry Confederate mouths water in that memorable 
winter of 1865. 

Upon arriving at the hotel, an address of welcome was deliv- 
ered by Gen. Stith Boiling, which is not only worthy a place in 
this history, but the loyal sentiment expressed is as worthy of 
lasting memory as any ever uttered by a patriotic American. He 
spoke briefly as follows : — 

" Major Cook and visitors from Massachusetts: On behalf 
of the ex-Confederate soldiers of Petersburg, and as citizens of a 
common country, I am glad to greet your presence, veterans of 
the Union army, and welcome you to our midst, with assurances 
of admiration for the value of the arms you bore, and the sincerity 
with which we respect and bear honest allegiance to a restored 
Union. The scenes of strife which you come to renew, remind 
us of the sad } T et glorious history which is the heritage of the Blue 
and the Gray. The camp-fires burn no more ; opposing flags are 
there no longer to define the lines of hostile armies. The flag of 
the Union and of our fathers is the flag of all, forever to wave 
over the laud of the free and the home of the brave. 

' ' Proud as are the memories which honorably belong to either 
side of the unhappy struggle, the heroism and courage of the 
American citizen, all are now blended in one common history of a 
reconciled people under one flag of an indissoluble Union. As 
brother Americans, proud of the growth, prosperity and prowess 
of the American nation and true to its hopes and to its destiny, 
we greet and welcome you to Petersburg." 

Major Cook responded as follows: "General Boiling, and 
- Johnnies,' and citizens of Petersburg : While we did not come 



374 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

here to make speeches, but rather to see sad scenes made holy by 
the blood of comrades, I would be poor, indeed, in language if I 
did not find words to express the gratitude we feel for this kind 
and hospitable reception. We came here twenty-three years ago 
and met with a warm reception from shot and shell, and now it 
looks as if you would kill us with your kindness. I know I but 
echo the feelings of every one when I say we feel deeply gratified 
for this flattery and kind reception." 

At the conclusion of Major Cook's remarks, three rousing 
cheers were given for the Bostonians, who returned the compli- 
ment by three hearty cheers for the "Johnnies." 

How often do we see the familiar quotation from Milton 
demonstrated : — 

" Peace bath her victories, 

No less renowned than war." 

The remembrance of this trip to Petersburg will ever be 
remembered with pleasure by the recipients of generous South- 
ern hospitality. The morning following the arrival in Petersburg, 
:i visit was made to the old trenches and lines of fortifications, 
now partially levelled, and in some places overgrown by tree-. 
in others under cultivated fields, or smiling with flowers that 
shed a fragrance speaking of peace and good-will. The gal- 
lant General Mahone, of Confederate fame, accompanied the 
parly. At the crater, made memorable by the disastrous battle 
of July 30th, 1864, he made an address descriptive of it as seen 
from the Confederate side; lie was present and took an active 
part . He said : — 

" 1 :it once estimated that you must have at leasl three thou- 
sand men there. I was coming up with two brigades of aboul 
one thousand. At first I took it that yon were coming 
across the heights of Petersburg, and it appeared that if yon 
,liil it was the end of this unpleasantness, for we could not have 

gotten away. 1 felt we were < gone up.' We could not have got- 
ten Off a piece of artillery, and the infantry could only have 

scampered back. Yes, 1 was much concerned, for I thoughl 

wc were 'gone up.' 1 dared not leave this hill, for 1 was sure 

you would pick me off. After a time, your lines moved forward 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 375 

irregularly. I then had the Virginia brigade in line, and they 
advanced. 

" The Georgia brigade was also in position. We met and 
went forward ' pell mell ' and broke the lines at the crater. The 
Georgia brigade tried to take about fifty feet of the lines which 
you held on the left, but could not. Later on, an Alabama brig- 
ade took that line. After that came the white flag from the pit of 
the crater and we took one thousaud and one Federal prisoners. 
Among them was Gen. William F. Bartlett, who went into the 
war as Colonel of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Regiment, and 
after the war engaged in the iron business in Richmond, Ya. 

" Later on came the flag of truce, and then both sides came 
on the ground between the two lines and buried the dead. During 
this flag of truce word came to me from a surgeon of some Yankee 
regiment, that he would send me a bottle of whiskey if I would like 
it. Of course, I said ' Yes,' and the doctor went back. Whether 
he was too slow or the time of truce expired, I do not know. I 
did not get that whiskey. I have not seen the doctor since, but 
some of your men owe me that bottle of whiskey." 

Dr. Whitman V. White, the former surgeon of the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, was present and acknowledged that he 
was the one who met General Mahone and promised him the bot- 
tle of whiskey, but said that the flag of truce was too quick for 
him. The record does not show whether the doctor ever fulfilled 
his promise. He soon left with General Mahone and dined with 
him. The others were also banqueted at the General's residence. 

The party also received a cordial welcome and were hospita- 
bly entertained by the citizens and ex-Confederate soldiers at 
Spottsylvania Court House and Fredericksburg. 

The veterans finally returned to Boston with a warm feeling 
for the Southern soldier and a high appreciation of Southern hospi- 
tality which they would like to reciprocate in the same fraternal 
spirit. As we strove for victory over them in the hour of battle, 
so would we now strive to equal, or, if possible, excel them in 
hospitality and brotherly love. 

The Twenty-Second Annual Reunion of the Fifty-Seventh 
was held in Temperance Hall, Worcester, June 18th, J 888. At 
the business meeting Bvt.-Capt. Charles H. Piukham of the Fifty- 



376 



FIFTY-SKVKXTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Seventh was again re-elected President. Bvt.-Maj. John H. 
Cook presented the sons of Gen. William F. Bartlett, who 
were admitted to honorary membership, also Charles Billiard. 

Two resolutions were offered to be acted upon at the next 
annual reunion. Letters were read from absent members. A 
report was made by the badge committee. After dinner several 
short speeches were made with pleasant references to the Virginia 
trip of the previous year. The Association adjourned to meet 
again in the city of Worcester at the call of the committee. 

The Twenty-Third Annual Reunion of the Fifty-Seventh was 
held in Temperance Hall, Worcester, June 26th, 1889. An 
amendment to the constitution, which was offered by Bvt.-Maj. 
John H. Cook at the reunion of 1SS8, changing the name from 
the '"' 57th and 59th" to the " Fifty-Seventh Regimental Associa- 
tion," was adopted. 

The two regiments were consolidated a short time before 
the close of the war, hence the Association was of short dura- 
tion and not as closely allied as the comradeship of the Fifty- 
Seventh. The attendance of the 59th members had been falling 
off year by } 7 ear, and they seemed to lack that esprit de corps 
which always distinguished those of the Fifty-Seventh. This gave 
occasion for the adoption of the amendment to the constitution. 
The 59th lost its identity as an organization at the time of 
consolidation. 

A resolution was also adopted providing thai all members of 
the 59th Massachusetts would be welcomed cordially at all future 
reunions. Upon the election of officers Rev. A. II. Dashiell was 
chosen President for the ensuing year. Many letters were read 
from absent members. 

The Twenty-Fourth Annual Reunion was held in Sons of 

Veterans Hall, Worcester, June 1 7th, 1890. The usual reports 
of deaths and oilier matters of interesl to the Association were 
ma le and received proper consideration. Nothing of unusual 
interest took place. The affair was a pleasant renewal of old 
associations, reminiscences, etc. Comrade E. D. McFarland was 
chosen President. 

The Twenty-Fifth Annual Reunion was held in Fitchburg, 

.Mass., June 17th, 1891. Letters were read in relation to a joint 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 377 

reunion of the four veteran regiments, 56th, 57th, 58th and 
59th. After a discussion of the matter it was referred to a com- 
mittee appointed for that purpose. Resolutions of sympathy 
were adopted for Chaplain A. H. Dashiell in domestic affliction. 

An excellent dinner was provided by the ladies of E. V. 
Sumner Relief Corps. Fitchburg hospitality was extended with 
the liberality for which that city is justly noted, and the veterans 
were received with a most cordial welcome. After dinner inter- 
esting addresses were delivered by General Kimball and others. 
E D. McFarland was re-elected President. 

The Twenty-Sixth Annual Reunion was held in Sons of 
Veterans Hall, Worcester, Mass., June 17th, 1892. At the 
business meeting the committee appointed to act upon the matter 
of a joint reunion of the four veteran regiments, reported that 
nothing had been accomplished toward this end. 

The following named Sons of Veterans were admitted to 
honorary membership, viz. : W. D. Thompson", Frank Hare, 
J. Elmer Hall and the son of Comrade Barnes. Letters were read 
from absent members and regrets expressed at the serious illness 
reported of Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook. 

Brief addresses were delivered by Gen. A. B. R. Sprague, 
General Pickett, Maj. E. T. Raymond and others. Comrade 
Barnes read a description of the battle before Petersburg, Va., 
June 17th, 1864, and vt Homeward Bound." Dr. A. O. Hitchcock 
of Fitchburg was elected President. After short and amusing 
stories and vocal music, the Association adjourned to meet again 
at the call of the officers. 

The Twenty- Seventh Annual Reunion was held in Fitchburg, 
Mass., June 17th, 1893. The death of Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook 
was reported. Lieut. George E. Priest read a very touching 
and tender tribute to his memory. No death of any member of 
the Association ever sank deeper into the hearts of the comrades 
than this. None more deeply mourned and none whose loss 
would have fallen heavier upon the Association. From its 
organization, he had taken a great interest in the annual re- 
unions and labored indefatigably to make them interesting and 
attractive, and to preserve a feeling of harmony among the mem- 
bers. It was largely due to his personal efforts that the excur- 



378 FIFTY -SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

sion to the battlefields of Virginia was made successfully. Res- 
olutions expressive of sympathy were adopted and sent to his 
bereaved and heartstricken widow, who wrote the following brief 
acknowledgment: "I should be lacking in gratitude, should I 
fail to thank you for the beautiful tribute sent my beloved husband 
and your comrade. Let these few words express my deepest 
appreciation of the kindness." 

The death was also reported of Bvt.-Capt. James H. Marshall 
and the following resolution adopted : — 

Resolved, That in the death of Comrade Marshall, the Association 
has lost one of its most cherished and valuable members. Serving 
through all the battles of the war, he was conspicuous for his courage 
and gallantry. After his return to civil life, he completed his college 
course which he had intermitted for the purpose of going to the war. 
He maintained a highly honorable career, being private secretary to 
Senator Dawes, and died in Washington, D.C. 

Addresses were made by Chaplain Dashiell, Surgeon W. V. 
White, Comrade Pinkham and others, eulogistic of Major Cook 
and Captain Marshall. The deaths of other comrades were 
reported which will be noticed in a following chapter. 

George W. Marsh, son of Jeremiah Marsh who was killed 
in the battle of the Wilderness, was elected an honorary member 
of the Association. The usual routine of business was transacted 
and Comrade W. H. Whipple was elected President. 

Dinner was served by E. V. Sumner Corps of the W.K.C.. the 
Indies of which graced the occasion by their presence, and lent 
a new charm to the happy reunion. They received the hearty 
and unanimous thanks of the Association. An adjournment was 
taken at 3.15 cm. to meet again at the call of the officers. 

The Twenty-Eighth Annual Reunion of the Association was 
| M . |,1 in Sons of Veterans Hall. Worcester, June I'.'th. L894. 

At this reunion Comrade J. Brainerd Hall appeared with the 
National flag, that was presented to the regiment by the Ladies of 
Worcester, upon its departure for the field in April. 1864. At the 

business meeting it was voted to make all sons of veterans of the 

regimenl honorary membere. Comrade Priesl announced that a 
college in North Carolina had conferred the honorary degree of 

D.D. Upon Chaplain A. II. Dashiell. The latter was tendered 

Lhe congratulations of Hie Association by a rising vote. A com- 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 379 

mittee on resolutions for the dead was appointed which submitted 
the following : — 

The Association having heard the report of the death of our com- 
rades who have passed away since our last annual reunion, and having 
entered their names on the roll of our honored dead, do likewise express 
our sorrow that the comrades will no longer enjoy their fellowship in 
our reunions, and that their places in their homes are made vacant. 

Resolved, That the sympathy of the Association be conveyed to their 
several families and circle of friends with assurances of our sense of 
their loss to them and to us. 

Chaplain Dashiell, who had been engaged in preparing a 
history of the regiment, read what he had written and stated the 
many difficulties he had encountered in preparing the work, such 
as ill health and the distance which he lived from the State ; and 
asked that he might be relieved from a further prosecution of the 
work, offering to contribute what he had already written and to 
assist, as far as he was able, anyone who should undertake it. 
His request was approved, and a committee was appointed con- 
sisting of Capt. John Anderson, Bvt.-Capt. C. H. Pinkham, 
Chaplain A. H. Dashiell, Lieut. George E. Priest and Comrade 
J. Brainerd Hall. The committee placed the work in the hands of 
Capt. John Anderson, who accepted the duty under the conditions 
of an act of the Massachusetts Legislature to encourage the writ- 
ing of regimental histories. 

After dinner the comrades enjoyed recalling old times and 
associations, stories and short speeches. Comrade W. H. Whipple 
was re-elected President. 

The Twenty-Ninth Annual Reunion of the Fifty-Seventh 
Regimental Association was held at Lake Quinsigamond, Worces- 
ter, Mass., June 17th, 1895. 

There was a very good attendance, many coming from con- 
siderable distance, and the reunion was made of unusual interest 
and pleasure, and all felt that the time passed too quickly. 
Again the occasion was graced by the presence of many Indies, 
wives and daughters of comrades, and also sons of comrades. 

The following deaths were reported, viz. : Comrades E. A. 
Bartlett, C. Harley and A. S. Allen, and the following resolution 
adopted in respect to their memory : — 



380 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Resolved, That we record our sense of their loss to their families 
and their comrades, and desire to convey our sympathy to their friends 
and our sincere prayers that they may be comforted and sustained in 
their bereavement. 

Remarks were made by Surgeon White, Comrade J. B. Hall 
and others, in regard to publishing the history of the regiment. 
All present seemed deeply interested in the progress of the work 
and anxious for its publication at an early day. We reported 
progress, which was received with satisfaction. 

After a dinner of baked clams, several stirring and patriotic 
addresses were made ; one of eloquence by Hon. A. S. Roe of 
Worcester, and one of impressive interest by the retiring Presi- 
dent, W. H. Whipple, in which he spoke with great warmth of 
past scenes, and paid an appropriate tribute to the memory of 
our departed comrades ; those who have fallen in battle and 
others who have died since the close of the war. His words 
reached the hearts of all his hearers. 

Captain Dashiell also touched a chord in harmony with the 
sentiment of the occasion. 

(apt. John Anderson of the U.S. Army was chosen Presi- 
dent for the ensuing year and it was voted to hold the nexl 
annual reunion in Worcester, -June 17th, 1896. 



„' 




CHAPTER XVIII. 



IN MEMORIAM. 

" How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blest? 
When spring, with dewy Angers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallowed mold, 
She there shall di'ess a sweeter sod 
Than fancy's feet have ever trod. 

By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung; 
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay. 
And freedom shall awhile repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there." 




INCE the final muster-out and disbandment of the 
regiment many of our comrades have received their 
discharge from the cares and duties of this life aud 
have marched ou to join the great majority. The 
sad, sweet notes of the bugle sounding taps frequently 
tell us that the light of another life has disappeared from 
mortal vision, and that we, too, are marching silently 
and swiftly on towards the bivouac of the dead. 

Among the first that were laid to rest was Lieut. -Col. J. M. 
Tucker, who died on the 22d of June, 1866, in Boston, Mass. 
Colonel Tucker's record was an honorable one. He first enlisted 
as a private in the 25th Massachusetts aud served as such until 
the 16th of September, 1861, when he was discharged and com- 
missioned 2d lieutenant in the 36th Massachusetts, from which 
regiment he resigned on account of ill health, on the 29th of 
July, 1863. The struggle still continued and when the call came 



382 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



hi the autumn of 1863 for more troops, youug Tucker again 
responded and raised a company of one hundred young men in 
the city of Worcester, of which he was commissioned captain, 
and mustered into the United States service as the third company 
of the regiment, taking the letter H. He was promoted to major 
.lime 14th, and lieutenant-colonel June loth, 1864. After the 
close of the war he was appointed colonel by brevet for gallant 
and meritorious conduct in action. He never fully recovered 
from the severe wound received in the battle of Petersburg, June 
17th, 1864, which greatly impaired his articulation. After having 
been mustered out with his regiment, he was appointed inspector 
in the Boston Custom House, which position he filled with fidelity 
and honor. He contracted a severe cold while in the discharge 
of his duties inspecting the cargo of a steamship in East Boston, 
which resulted in his death in the 26th year of his age. 

His funeral was conducted with military honors and attended 
by a large number of his former comrades and friends. 

C'apt. John L. Goodwin died Nov. 22d, 1867, in the 27th 
year of his age, from the effects of wounds received and disease 
contracted in the service of his country. 

We have heretofore made brief mention of Captain Good- 
win's honorable and gallant service. He first enlisted in 1861 in 
the 25th Massachusetts and served about two years. He took a 
deep interest in the organization of the Fifty-Seventh and assisted 
Colonel Tucker in raising Company H, and was commissioned 1st 
Lieutenant to date from Jan. 6th, 1864, subsequently promoted to 
captain, but never mustered as such, owing to the fact that he 
was absent from the regiment wounded. 

He was wounded in the Wilderness and again in front of 
Petersburg. Previous to the war he was connected with the 
Sunday school of the Universalist church in Worcester, and is 
borne on the roll of honor as one of the many young men of his 
class who responded t<> their country's call in the hour of greatest 

danger, and laid down their lives in its defense. 

The funeral was held in the 1 " nivcrsalist church and was 

attended by a Large Dumber of relatives, friends, old army com- 



IX MEMORIAM. 383 

racks and the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member, also 
Post No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic. 

The services were conducted by Rev. Mr. Bowles, after 
which the procession was formed and marched to Hope Cemetery, 
where the remains were placed at rest. His name added another 
to the long list which will always stand in honor of Worcester's 
patriotic sons. 

His was the great privilege of seeing the war close with the 
Union army victorious, and to welcome the return of his surviv- 
ing comrades, who were soon called upon to mourn his untimely 
death. Respected and loved by those who will always cherish a 
tender recollection of his memory, he has crossed the dark and 
silent river to his eternal home beyond. 

In pausing to mention those of the Fifty-Seventh who have 
died since the war, we are overwhelmed with meritorious names 
of men who deserve more than we can say of them. In the 
great battle strife for the preservation of the Union there wei-e 
many brave deeds never noticed, many a heroic name around 
which we could entwine the laurel wreath of immortal song and 
poetry and yet fail to do them justice ; but comparatively few 
were observed. 

The private soldier deserved as much credit as the officer, 
but was less likely to be noticed. The enlisted men were 
remarkable for their submission to discipline, their spirit of 
loyalty, the fearlessness manifested upon the field of battle, a 
faithful performance of duty and the spirit of self-sacrifice, by 
which thousands laid down their lives for the sake of their 
country. While such men have lived and died and passed 
apparently unnoticed, yet their brave and noble deeds helped to 
save the nation's life, and, as time rolls on, generations yet 
unborn will live to honor their memory. 

With the lack of knowledge of many things and many names 
worthy of mention, and with the lack of time and space, we are 
obliged to omit much that would honor and adorn these pages. 

We have the name of James H. Holland, formerly a private 
of Company B, Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, who died Feb. 11th, 



384 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



1875, after long months of suffering from wounds and disease 
incident to his army life. His broken health blighted all his 
prospects in this life and he could only patiently wait the inevi- 
table result. 

There is one name of all those who belonged to the Fifty- 
Seventh, that stands one of the most prominent among the noble 
sons of Massachusetts, and which deserves a mention beyond the 
power of language : that of Bvt.-Maj.-Gen. William F. Bartlett. 
This work would lack much of completion without it. In previous 
chapters we have made brief mention of his career ; it now only 
remains to speak, not only of his death, but his departure from 
this to that higher and nobler life beyond. 

On the 17th of December, 1876, after bidding an affectionate 
farewell to his family and nearest friends around him, he 
passed peacefully away to "that bourne from whence no traveler 
returns." 

Eulogies were written in honor of his memory in nearly all 
the papers in the State, eulogies full of eloquence and pathos ; 
but as his life was so closely associated with that of the Fifty- 
Seventh, we will only quote extracts from a loving tribute to his 
memory by one of our comrades, Bvt.-Maj. John II. Cook, who 
has since passed on to join his beloved commander. Knowing 
Major Cook quite intimately for years, we know that every 
won! and sentence he Uttered came from a true and devoted heart. 
He said at the reunion of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts. July 
31st, 1 .s 7 7 : "The results of his various wounds, taken in con- 
junction with the exposures of camp and the hardships of prison 
life, were too plainly visible, tor it was painfully evident that it 
would not be long before his life would he as truly offered, a 
sacrifice upon the altar of his country, as if he had laid it down 
amid the smoke and turmoil of battle. 

•■ After his return from Europe up to the period of his death, 
his time was spent with his family in Pittslield. He had long 
realized that he could not stem the tide of failing health, and 
thai. SOOner or later, he. who had faced death amid the roar 
of cannon and the smoke of battle, would he called upon, sur- 
rounded by the peaceful and happy scenes of his domestic life. 



IN MEMORIAM. 385 

to lay down his sword in reverent submission to the one event 
of all be could not conquer. 

" Loving lips have told me of bis last illness and death, how, 
amid the surroundings of his happy home, removed from all the va- 
ried excitements that accompanied his intrepid character and lent 
their inspiration to his heroic achievements, he, with a heroism 
before which all his exhibitions of the past faded into nothingness, 
met the last great enemy and in submission bowed, ' Thy will, 
not mine, be done.' He had faced death before, but now he 
was to meet it face to face knowing that he should be conquered. 
Calmly as one who journeys to a distant land, he made his 
preparations, forgetting nothing, with kind and loving words to 
those about him. To wife, cherished of his heart, counsels to 
enable her to courageously meet the event and obligations so soon 
to be imposed upon her, to children about to be made father- 
less, wisdom that seemed borrowed from beyond that bourne 
he soon would pass, to friends and all, words of cheer and com- 
fort that carried with them impulses to higher aspirations and 
nobler purposes. 

" At last, as the solemn bells of Sunday morning tolled out 
their summons in the name of Him through whom he had seen the 
light of a simple Christian faith and life weave the certainty of a 
higher and better life beyond the grave, and surrounded by every 
association of love and tenderness that made life dear, he whis- 
pered his last farewell and closed his eyes in that sleep whose 
waking is beyond mortal vision. Thus, in the simple faith of Him 
whose disciple he was, who taught the lesson of an immortal life, 
his earthly life was ended. 



" It may be well for me, on this occasion, to speak of his feel- 
ings towards his old regiments and to recur to our past reunions 
as related by him. He had a warm affection for all his old regi- 
ments. In a letter to Governor Andrew, written at the time of 
his promotion, he says : < It is with feelings of sadness that I 
leave the command of a Massachusetts regiment. I have served 
with one so long that I feel that my history, reputation and inter- 



386 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

est could not survive 1113' separation from one or another of our 
noble regiments.' .... 

" I have been told by one who mourns his loss, as we cannot, 
what his feelings were towards the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, and 
it is my delight to tell the story as I heard it from lips that seemed 
to fear lest they fail to make the impress of his earnestness on my 
mind. ... He was always proud of the Fifty-Seventh, and his 
love for it abided with him until his death. During his last 
illness, and especially when the time of dissolution seemed im- 
minent, he often said he feared he would die with his true feelings 
unknown to us. . . . 

" As we lowered him to his last resting place, there stood 
over that open grave at least two who will ever recall a happy con- 
sciousness as they remember that they performed these last sad 
offices. As the setting sun of that brief December day settled 
behind the mountains that would forever be his guard of honor, 
we turned away and left him alone with God. I returned home, 
but, somehow, my heart lingered behind me in the cemetery 
where we had left him. 1 thought I stood again uncovered 
beside his grave and a mournful, but sweet sadness came over 
me. I mourned that in the early dawn of a manhood full of 
golden promises he should be called away, and my sadness was 
sweetened by the reflection that he had done his work so well. 
Along down the line of coming years I had beheld higher honors 
and greater renown awaiting him. I had seen him surrounded by 
circumstances and possibilities for future usefulness, and I felt 
that it was sad, indeed, that he should die so soon, and yet, 
though his years were few, they were full, rounded and complete. 
.... The record of his life is safe. Time cannot dim its glory 
or the heat of party strife detract from its merit, for it has passed 
beyond mortal power to change and is left a golden heritage in 
Hi,' hearts of all who knew him. The lessons of his life are 
many, and they will he productive of future good, seen and 1111- 
seen, noted and unnoted. In him the cardinal virtues of the 
ancients, thrown into bold relief by the reflected light of his char- 
acter, found prominenl expression. 



IN MEMORIAM. 387 

" The summers will come and go and we shall meet, but our 
festival will only know him in happy memories. ' On fame's 
eternal camping ground ' he has spread his silent tent and awaits 
our comiug. I know that somewhere in the ages ahead we shall 
meet him again. When the great Commander shall have sum- 
moned ns all, we shall meet in a grander reunion. I am not one 
who sees nothing but destruction in the destroyer's steps ; I have 
budded my faith on an eternal foundation, and I echo in my heart 
the language of my most loved poet : — 

' Alas for him who never sees 

The stars shine through the cypress trees, 

Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, 

Nor looks to see the breaking day 

Across the mournful marbles play : 

Who hath not learned in hours of faith. 

The truth to flesh and sense unknown. 

That life is ever lord of death, 

And love can never lose its own ; 

For love will dream and faith will trust 

(Since He who knows our need is just) 

That somehow, somewhere, meet we must.' 

"Farewell, old commander and comrade; bright hope and 
happy dream. Amid the green hills of your adopted Berkshire, 
where nature loves to tabernacle, may you sleep the sleep of the 
just and true in your grave. You had your share of human im- 
perfections, but death has forever freed thee, and thou art no 
longer trammelled. Upon thy grave we plant the sweetest flow- 
ers of all the fields. Thy memory shall grow with us, and in the 
soil that covers thee renew its blossoms and fragrance perennially. 

"Farewell, old commander, soldier of war and soldier of 
peace, conqueror of battles and the hearts of men. Never more 
shall we look upon thy face, but we will wear thy memory in our 
hearts ; marble and bronze in counterfeit presentment of what we 
know so well, may wear thy name and face with its endurance, 
but it will never feel the throbs of affectionate remembrance 
that possess our hearts. Farewell, dear friend, tried and true. 
Soldier of love and soldier of faith, vour battles are ended and 



388 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

your victory is won. You have fought the good fight, you have 
finished your course, and you have kept the faith." 

General Bartlett was a companion of the Massachusetts 
Commandery of the Military Order, Loyal Legion, United States. 
At a meeting of this Commandery, held in Boston, Wednesday, 
Feb. 7th, 1877, resolutions were unanimously adopted paying 
a tribute of respect to his memory. We quote only the last 
few words, as follows: "The life of our deceased companion 
was so full of promise, as well as of performance, that our grati- 
tude for what he did, and for the influence of his example, is 
mingled with deep regret for our loss of what might have been his 
future. With proud and tender recollection, we record our testi- 
mony to our belief, that he was one of the noblest of the soldiers 
and citizens whom Massachusetts has numbered among her sons." 

One of his Pittsfield friends fittingly expressed the feelings 
of his old comrades in the following lines : — 

"For the sake of his geutleness, 
For the sake of his manliness, 
For the sake of the Wilderness, 

Where his blood stained the lea. 
For the sake of his duties done. 
For the sake of the fame he won. 
For the sake of the days to come, 
Green may his memory be." 

The personal character of General Bartlett was noble and 
pure. His life was one of exalted honor and romantic heroism, 
and in his death there was something grandly sublime and sadly 
beautiful. He was a communicant of Saint Stephen's Episcopal 
Church in Pittsfield. 

At the close of the funeral service in the church the following 
hymn from the Kpiscopal Hymnal was sung. This had been 
previously selected by him : — 

" ( » Paradise, ( I Paradise, 

Who doth u"t crave for rest? 
Who dot!) not seek the happy land 
Where they that loved arc blest, 



IN MEMOMAM. 389 

Where loyal hearts and true 

Stand ever in the light, 
All raptured through and through 

In God's most holy sight? 

Lord Jesus, King of Paradise, 

Oh, keep us in Thy love, 
And guide us to that happy land 

Of perfect rest above : 
Where loyal hearts and true. 

Stand ever in the light, 
All raptured through and through 

In God's most holy sight." 

Among the many loving and beautiful tributes paid to his 
memory was the following poem written bj T John Greeuleaf 
Whittier : — 

" Oh. well may Essex sit forlorn 
Beside her sea-blown shore : 
Her well beloved, her noblest born 
Is hers in life no more ! 

If early from the mother's side 

Her favored child went forth, 
Her pride so amply justified 

Is in a hero's birth. 

No lapse of years can render less 

Her memory's sacred claim : 
No fountain of forgetfuluess 

Can wet the lips of fame. 

A grief alike to wound and heal, 

A thought to soothe and pain, 
The sad, sweet pride that mothers feel 

To her must still remain : 

Good men and true she has not lacked, 

And brave men yet shall be : 
The perfect floAver the crowning fact, 

Of all her years was he ! 

As Galahad pure, as Merlin sage, 
What worthier knight was found 

To grace in Arthur's golden age 
The fabled Table Round? 



390 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

A voice, the battle's trumpet note, 

To welcome and restore ; 
A hand, that all unwilling smote, 

To heal and build once more ! 

A soul of fire, a tender heart 

Too warm for hate, he knew 
The generous victor's graceful part, 

To sheathe the sword he drew. 

The more than Sidney of our day, 

Above the sin and wrong 
Of civil strife, he heard alway 

The angels' Advent song ! 

When earth, as if on evil dreams, 

Looks back upon her wars, 
And the white light of Christ outstreams 

From the red disk of Mars, 

His fame who led the stormy van 

Of battle well may cease, 
But never that which crowns the man 

Whose victory was Peace. 

.Mourn, Essex, on thy sea-blown shore. 

Thy beautiful and brave, 
Whose failing hand the olive bore, 

Whose dying lips forgave ! 

Let aiie lament the youthful chief. 

And tender eyes be dim ; 
The tears are more of joy than grief 

Thai fall tor one like him." 

(apt. George E. Barton of Worcester died May 29th, L878, 

after a brief illness. His death was a painful surprise to all his 
friends. Captain Barton was the youngest son of Judge Ira M. 
Barton, a highly esteemed family of Worcester and one that did 
much for the Union cause during the war. His next elder 
brother, E. M. Barton, was connected with the l.S. Sanitary 
Commission and attached to the headquarters of the Fifth Army 
Corps, Army of the Potomac. Worcester boys who were in that 
army have reason to remember him for his many act- of kindness 
towards them while in hospital sick or wounded. 



IN MEMORIAM. 391 

Captain Barton was thirty-six years and eleven months old at 
the time of his death. His military record was one crowned 
with honor. He threw his whole heart and soul into the cause 
of his country. He first entered the service as a private in the 
51st Massachusetts, and was subsequently made sergeant-major. 
With the expiration of his service he was discharged and again 
volunteered in the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, and was appointed 
2d lieutenant, promoted to 1st lieutenant and captain. He 
went with the Fifty-Seventh to the field as acting adjutant, and 
was soon appointed assistant quartermaster of the Ambulance 
Corps, but was subsequently relieved, at his own request, and 
joined the regiment in front of Petersburg and participated in all 
the engagements that followed. He was twice wounded and 
finally had the distinguished honor of commanding the regiment 
when it entered Petersburg. 

Captain Barton was a great favorite in the army and will long 
be remembered for his genial, sunny disposition ; always happy 
himself, he had a faculty of imparting his cheerful disposition to 
others. No hardships or dangers could change him ; however 
dark the cloud, his vision seemed to discover the bright sunbeams 
behind it, always ready to do a kind act for another or to share 
his only blanket with him. On the march or in the camp he was 
always the same, never " growling " or complaining, but quick to 
discern a bright spot where there was one ; if there was none, he 
would make it. 

His funeral was attended by the few surviving members of 
his old regiments, the 51st and 57th, who were in the vicinity of 
Worcester, Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic, under Com- 
mander James K. Churchill, and the Worcester Continentals, 
under Col. W. S. B. Hopkins. The procession was a very im- 
posing one. As it passed through the city to Rural Cemetery the 
streets were crowded with people. The services at the cemetery 
were conducted by Rev. Henry L. Jones, D.D., Pastor of Saint 
Stephen's Episcopal Church of Wilkesbarre, Penn. There were 
many beautiful floral offerings. He was buried in the army 
blouse of a private soldier, while on his breast was a gold 
badge of the G.A.R., which had been presented to him as 



392 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



being the most popular comrade of Post 10. The ceremony at 
the grave was very impressive, while amid the silence of the 
gathering twilight of early summer our friend and comrade was 
laid to rest where he is " tenting tonight " on the camping grounds 
of eternal peace. 

Captain Barton was a loyal and devoted member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and left the sum of five hundred 
dollars to the George H. Ward (Worcester) Post No. 10. 

Sergeant Walter R. Foster of Company H died in Worcester, 
Oct. 23d, 1879. 

The funeral services were held at the First Universalist 
Church and the burial ceremony conducted by Post 10, Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

Sergeant Foster first entered the service when but eighteen 
} 7 ears of age, and remained with the Fifty-Seventh until its muster 
out, at the close of the war, after which he was employed as 
Assistant Ticket Agent, at the old Foster Street Railroad Station, 
Worcester. He was a very quiet, unassuming man, but had a 
large, warm heart and made friends wherever he was known. 

As a soldier he was brave, reliable and trustworthy. His 
record was an honorable one. His life was one well worthy of 
emulation. 

A few verses were written for the Worcestei Gazette, signed 
" C. A. K. P." We have taken the liberty of copying the last 
verse. 

In Memoriam. 

mm LATE WALTER R. FOSTER. 



No life is brief whose passing years 
Bring blessings to a human soul, 
No work is vain thai is nobly 'lone. 
No race is shorl thai wins the goal; 
Ami thej who. in temptation's hour, 
Battle \\ i 1 1 1 passion's surging tide, 
May gain fresh courage from the thoughl 
Thai ' such as he have lived and died.'" 



IX MEMORIAM. 393 

Corp. David N. Chapin of Company B passed from this to a 
higher life on the 5th of November, 1879. He was a brave 
soldier, one who was faithful to his country during the dark days 
of the war, true to his friends and a devoted Christian. He was 
buried with Masonic honors. A guard of honor, composed of sur- 
viving comrades of the Fifty-Seventh, escorted the remains to 
their final resting place, there to await the grand reveille of 
eternal day. 

At the reunion which was held in 1874 the death of Albert 
Doty, formerly 1st lieutenant and adjutant of the Fifty-Seventh, 
was reported. In the early part of the war he was a student 
at Williams College, but promptly responded to the call of his 
country, and enlisted in a regiment from the State of New York, 
and made an honorable record. Having been discharged, bj r 
reason of expiration of service, he again enlisted in the Fifty- 
Seventh Massachusetts, and soon after taking the field, was pro- 
moted to 1st lieutenant and appointed regimental adjutant, 
which position he was well qualified to fill ; subsequently he was 
appointed captain by brevet for gallantry in action while serving 
with the Fifty-Seventh. He was conspicuous for gallantry and 
was regardless of personal safety, even to the extent of reckless- 
ness, yet, like all others, he was obliged to surrender to the one 
great enemy who has been marching on, victorious over mortality, 
since the creation, and will continue to gather his victims as long 
as time shall last ; Shakespeare says : — 

" Cowards die many times before their deaths; 
The valiant never taste of death but once." 

Captain Doty commanded the regiment, for some time after 
the battle of the Petersburg mine, and was the only officer on duty 
with it. 

We make no attempt to record deaths in chronological order, 
from the fact that many have died at a distance and their deaths 
reported without date, which it has been impossible to obtain. 

Capt. John W. Sanderson died Jan. 13th, 1884, at Colfax, 
Iowa, aged fifty-six years. Captain Sanderson first entered the 
service as 1st lieutenant in the 51st Massachusetts in 18G2, 



394 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



and served with it until the expiration of his term of service. 
Upon the organization of the Fifty-Seventh regiment he was 
appointed 2d lieutenant from date of Oct. 21st, 1863, and 
authorized to raise a company for that regiment. He opened an 
office and recruited in Worcester, being the first to complete the 
organization of a company, which was lettered A, of which he 
was commissioned captain, to date from Dec. 26th, 1863, and 
was the senior of that grade in the regiment. He was a man of 
high personal character, untiring energy and an excellent officer, 
well trained in the duties pertaining to his position, and one who 
took a great pride in his profession. He was severely wounded 
in the battle of the Wilderness, and so disabled as to render him 
physically disqualified for further service in the field, on which 
account he was discharged for disability, Nov. 10th, 1864. After 
the close of the war he went west, and engaged in business pur- 
suits, which separated him from a personal participation in the 
regimental reunions. He left a record which his living comrades 
are proud to honor. 

Another name on the list of deaths, which we cannot pass 
unnoticed, is that of Capt. Levi Lawrence of Fitchburg, who en- 
tered the service of the United States as 1st lieutenant in the 
25th Massachusetts, Oct. 12th, 1861, and served as such until July 
21st, 1862. Upon the organization of the Fifty-Seventh .Massa- 
chusetts he raised a company in and around Fitchburg, which was 
called the Fitchburg company, and was mustered Feb. 11th, L864, 
taking the letter F. He was severely wounded in the battle 
of the Wilderness, from the effects of which he never sufficiently 
recovered to be able to return to duty, and was discharged for 
disability Sept. Mth, L864. Captain Lawrence was a man of 

gentle disposition and sterling worth, cool and brave in the hour 
of danger, and thoroughly conscientious in the discharge of every 
duty. 

After leaving the service he located in Fitchburg, where he 

remained until L876, when he moved to his old homestead, 
Ashliv, Mas-,. He always took a deep interest in the Fifty- 
Seventh Regimental Association and all old comrades who had 

seen honorable service in the army. His was one of those up- 



IN MEMORIAM. 395 

right lives that never go out, without leaving a lingering twilight 
to consecrate its memory. One would think that such a life 
would end as quietly as it had lived, but such was not the case. 
After facing the driving storm and turmoil of battle, he was 
destined to meet a tragic death through shipwreck. Failing- 
health, caused by the hardships and exposures incident to his 
army life, compelled him to seek a milder climate. For this 
purpose he sailed from Boston, January, 1884, on the ill-fated 
steamer, City of Columbus, intending to visit Florida, and return 
the following spring, and to visit some of the old battlefields of 
the South. After leaving Boston a dreadful storm arose. The 
night was dark and cold ; the wind drove the ship upon the rocks 
off Gay's Head and it became a total wreck. Captain Lawrence 
was among the drowned. The stormy billows were his funeral 
escort to the shores of eternal rest and peace. His memory is 
honored by citizens as an upright man ; by his old comrades 
in arms as a man with a heart as kind as it was brave and 
true. 

Gen. Napoleon B. McLaughlen, who became colonel of the 
Fifty- Seventh after the promotion of Colonel Bartlett to brigadier- 
general, died at Middletown, N.Y., Jau. 27th, 1887, at about the 
age of sixty- four years. He was an old soldier, having first 
entered the regular army, by enlistment, as a private in Troop F, 
of the old Second Dragoons, May 20th, 1850. He was appointed 
2d lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry in March, 1861, and pro- 
moted 1st lieutenant, 4th Cavalry, the following May. In 
October, 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 1st Massachusetts 
Infantry, succeeding Col. Robert Cowdin, and colonel of the 
Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts, July 21, 1864, returning to the 
State in command of the same. He commanded the brigade, 
composed mostly of Massachusetts troops, known in the Army of 
the Potomac as " McLaughlen's brigade." He was appointed a 
brigadier-general of volunteers, by brevet, for gallant and distin- 
guished service at. Poplar Grove Church, Va., and in the regular 
army by brevet for gallant and meritorious service, as follows : 
Major, May 3d, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Va. ; lieutenant- 
colonel, July 2d, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa. ; colonel and brigadier- 



396 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

general at Fort Stedman, Va., March 25th, 18(35. After having 
been mustered out of the volunteer service, Aug. 10th, 18G5, 
he returned to his regiment in the regular army, 4th Cavalry, 
where he had, in the meantime, been promoted to captain. He 
was promoted to major of the 10th Cavalry May 17th, 1876, and 
was placed on the retired list, upon his own application, after 
thirty years of continuous service, June 26th, 1882. As a 
soldier, General McLaughlen was a man of undaunted courage, 
mature judgment and conscientious in the performance of duty. 
During the last few years of his life he was a great sufferer from 
the effects of hardships and exposures in the field. 

Dr. Charles E. Heath, formerly assistant surgeon of the 
Fifty-Seventh, died at his home in Lee, Mass., Oct, 5th, 1887. 
His "death fell with a peculiar sadness upon his old comrades, who 
were accustomed to look forward to his kindly greeting at each 
annual reunion, which he seemed to enjoy so much. The hearty 
grasp of his honest hand had been loosened here, only to be again 
outstretched for a comrade's greeting, as we meet him in the dawn 
of a brighter future. He took a zealous interest in the associa- 
tion of the old regiment, and was honored and respected by his 
comrades who felt the genial warmth of his friendship. Their 
sympathies clothed him with their affections. None who ever 
wore the uniform possessed a greater love for the old Hag, or 
abiding loyalty to the country, than he. His manner was quiet 
and unassuming, with a generous heart, as sensitive and tender as 
that of a child. His many acts of kindness will long be remem- 
bered by those who were the recipients of his attentions. The 
Valley Gleaner of Lee, in the issue of Oct. 5th, 1887, says of 

him : — 

"A host of friends in Lee and throughout Berkshire County, 
will learn with sincere sorrow of the death of Dr. Charles E. 
Heath, which occurred about live o'clock this morning. Although 
he had been suffering for a Ion- time, the end came ?ery suddenly. 

Major Cook, of the Boston Custom House, was severely 
wounded in the war. and always believed that nothing but the 
doctor's skill and untiring devotion saved his life. When he 
heard of the doctor's illness, a few days ago. Ih- started im- 



IX MEMO R I AM. 397 

mediately and was soon at his bedside. The meeting was most 
affecting and Major Cook did not leave until all hope and con- 
sciousness were gone Dr. Heath was a man of upright 

character, warm hearted, generous nature and genial manner, and 
he enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. In public and in 
private, and both as a physician and friend, he will be sadly 
missed." 

The tears of friends will keep his memory green, while the 
qualities of heart and mind that made them have, undoubtedly, 
won for him a higher reward in that other life, than fell to his lot 
iu this. 

Austin K. Gould, of whom former mention has been made, 
who was a prisoner of war at Andersonville, died at his home in 
Worcester, Mass., Friday, Sept. Sth, 1893, and was buried the 
following Monday, in Amherst, Mass. Comrade J. Brainerd 
Hall paid a deserving tribute to his memory in an address 
delivered before the Massachusetts Association of Union Ex- 
Prisoners of War, from which we have been kindly permitted to 
make use of the following extract : — 

Iu 1861 Doctor Austin K. Gould was a practisiug physician in Fitch- 
burg, Mass. Iu 1SG2 he enlisted as a private soldier and joined Company 
B, 53d Massachusetts Infantry. He was at once assigned to duty in 
regimental hospital, and very soon after that regiment reached New 
Orleans, was placed in charge of one of the division hospitals of the 
Nineteenth Corps, at Baton Rouge, remaining there until the early fall 
of 1863, when he came north Avith the 53d, its term of service having 
expired. 

On the last day of 1863 Doctor Gould again enlisted as a private, and 
immediately joined Company F, Fifty-Seveuth Massachusetts Infantry. 
He was not allowed to remain with his company, but was at once called 
to the hospital, where he remained until about April 18th, 1861, when he 
was detailed and assigned to duty in general hospital service. 

When the campaign of 1864 began he was attached to the ambulance 
train of the Ninth Army Corps, crossing the Rapidan May Sth. On the 
morning of May 6th .... our lines were driven back (Wilderness) and 
night found fifty men at the Second Corps Hospital between the lines. 
They were so badly wounded that no one would take the responsibility 
of moving them in army wagons. I shall never forget the order that 
came from one of the senior medical officers: " Come, doctor, pick up 
your traps; if any of those fellows are alive by morning they will be 



398 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



no good to the Johnnies." Doctor Gould answered : " These men can be 
saved; I shall remain, and, if necessary, go to prison and die with them. 
It is not humane to leave them alone." He remained, and every one of 
u> were brought out the next afternoon. During the next thirty-six 
hours we were captured and recaptured many times. On the third occa- 
sion of our capture Doctor Gould was separated from us. He, however, 
denied that he was a surgeon and kept Avith his comrades, going with 

them to Andersonville 

He was loved and respected by every Union soldier who was ever 
blest with a personal acquaintance with him. His heart was so big that 
it recognized every defender of the flag as a brother, and that it was his 
duty to care for him the best he could, without money and without 
price 

Of all the sad deaths we have been called upon to record 
during the progress of this work, one of the saddest was that of 
Bvt.-Maj. John H. Cook, who died Aug. 19th, 1893. We have 
made brief mention, on a former page, of his services and the 
severe and painful wound he received July 21st, 1864, the bullet 
passing directly through his body. For days he hovered between 
life and death, and finally, much to the surprise of everyone, 
survived and lived for many years. He was born in Northamp- 
ton in 1841. In the early part of 1861 he enlisted in the 10th 
Massachusetts, and was in the celebrated Peninsula campaign 
under General McClellan. After the battle of Fair Oaks he was 
taken sick with typhoid fever, contracted in the swamps of the 
Chickahominy, in consequence of which he was discharged for dis- 
ability, on the 17th of July, 1862. Having recovered from his 
sickness, he again entered the service and helped to raise and 
organize Company E of the Fifty-Seventh, of which company 
he was commissioned 1st lieutenant. The nature of his wound 
was so serious that he was never aide to return again to field duty, 
and was discharged for disability Dec. 27th, 1864, after which he 
engaged in the drug business in Boston, until appointed a clerk in 
the Custom House, afterwards storekeeper, head storekeeper, and 
finally as auditor, tilling every position faithfully and efficiently. 

Be represented Ward Eighteen of Boston in the Massachusetts 
Legislature, in b s 7.">, is7f> and 1*77. lie was a member of Post 
li.".. Grand Army of the Republic, and was Department [nspec- 



IN MEMORIAM. 399 

tor on the staff of Myron P. Walker, his old tentmate in the 
10th Massachusetts. 

For many years Major Cook held the position of president of 
our Fifty- Seventh Regimental Association, and always took a deep 
interest in all that concerned it and each individual member of it. 
He was one of the first in helping to organize, and it might be said 
of him that he was the very life and soul of it, never missing the 
annual reunions, except when prevented by sickness. His love 
for the old regiment was true and enduring to the very last. 
Captain Priest writes : "At mj' last call, on the afternoon of the 
last day of his life, he knew the end was near and his thoughts 
were of you, men of the Fifty- Seventh, for he asked me to do 
whatever related to the attendance of the Fifty-Seventh at the 
funeral, and to see that Chaplain Dashiell was present to take part 
in the services. He wanted us with him to the last." After the 
close of the war he was appointed captain and major by brevet 
by the Hon. Secretary of War. 

Major Cook's personal character was one of unsullied truth 
and honor ; nothing could swerve him from the upright course 
which he pursued. He was deserving of friends and he had 
them; their name was legion, and he was always true to them. 
His friendship could be relied upon, whether in a high or low 
position. To the poor and needy he was especially kind and 
sympathetic. No worthy person ever appealed to him in vain 
His heart was warm and large, " with malice towards none and 
charity for all." Thus he lived and thus he died, in full faith that 
there is a higher and better life beyond this, to which he carried 
his love of country, comrades and friends. In his death the 
Fifty-Seventh lost what our comrades, who have gone before, have 
gained. 

He was of a happy, uncomplaining disposition, and when his 
affairs did not go just to suit him, patiently waited. He was 
happy in his domestic relations and in the possession of a quiet 
little home, where he spent most of his time after the duties of the 
day were over. 

It is impossible to pause to notice all the worthy and honora- 
ble names of comrades of the Fifty-Seventh, who have given 



400 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



their lives for the sake of the country. They have passed on iu 
such rapid succession that the lingering light of their mortal lives 
seems blended in one harmonious whole, where special mention of 
each deserving case is absolutely impossible. As the months pass 
and years roll on, we are called upon to mourn the loss of some 
friend and comrade, whose unwritten eulogy will silently speak 
through the ages that are to come. Among the names that 
demand special attention is still another honored one, which 
shines from the modest security of a lingering, suffering, unpre- 
tentious life, whose pure and spotless soul cast off the painful 
deformity of mutilated mortality on the 18th day of June, 1887, 
and ascended to that higher life of immortality. The name of 
Lieut. Charles E. Barnard will live in the affections of his 
comrades while their memory lasts. Such names and characters 
beautify any book, and such gentle, loving dispositions iufuse 
a new life of noble sentiment wherever their influence is felt. 

As a soldier Lieutenant Barnard was brave, honorable and 
conscientious in the faithful discharge of his duty, and was loved 
and respected by his comrades in arms. The same qualities that 
endeared him to them followed him from the army to civil life, 
where he made friends of all with whom he came in contact. He 
first entered the army by enlistment as a private soldier, in 
Company E, loth Massachusetts. At the battle of Antietam, 
Sept. 17th, 1862, he received a gunshot wound through the body ; 
the ball entered between the breasts and passed out near the 
spine. He was discharged Nov. 24th, 1862, on account of dis- 
ability arising from this wound, but recovered sutliciently to be 
able again to enter the service, and enlisted the second time, 
February, 1*64, in Company F of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, 
and was made 1st sergeant. He was with the regiment through 
the terrible battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, 
North Anna, and all the engagements in front of Petersburg to 
the attack on Fort Stedman, March 25th, L865, when he was 
again severely wounded, this time through the neck and arm. 
The ball entered the top of the left shoulder and split in its course 
downward, one piece passing out of the old Antietam wound, 

while the Other lodged lower and on the right side of the body, 



IN MEMORIAM. 401 

where it remained. On the 12th of June, 1865, he was commis- 
sioned 2d lieutenant and discharged with the regiment July 30th, 
18C5. He became an invalid as a result of his wounds, and for 
much of the time was unable to leave his bed. The fragment of 
the ball which had lodged in his body caused him much pain, and 
sores to form. It finally appeared to lodge in the right hip, 
which caused the cords of the right leg to contract so much that 
the right knee was drawn up so as to rest against the abdomen 
and breast ; it being so much drawn up that he could rest his chin 
on his knee. 

The wounds in the back and shoulder caused paralysis of the 
left arm, also a disease of the spine. During all the years that 
he survived the war he was a patient sufferer and was never heard 
to murmur or complain. Although a cripple, and unable to per- 
form manual labor of any kind, he was of a cheerful disposition 
and possessed, to an eminent degree, the cardinal virtue of 
charity. Many acts of kindness, which he supposed no one 
knew, were subsequently traced to him, often depriving himself 
that he might be able to lighten the burden of some unfortunate 
comrade, to whom his heart always turned with feelings of 
sympathy. Such a life sheds a lustre that does not vanish with 
death, but leaves a fragrant incense which death cannot kill. 

Since the final muster-out of the regiment comrades have be- 
come dispersed and scattered throughout the country, so that it is 
absolutely impossible to keep a complete and correct record of 
them, although strenuous efforts have been made in that direction 
by the officers of the regimental association, as they have met 
from } T ear to year. The whereabouts of many cannot be ascer- 
tained ; many, no doubt, have died whose names have not been 
reported. We append a list, which, though it may not be correct 
in every particular, yet is as near as anyone can make it, of com- 
rades who have died and passed from the shadows of this mortal 
to the light of the unseen and immortal life, beyond the dark 
river. Whether their graves are marked by sculptured stone, 
tablets of bronze, or only the faded flowers placed there by loving 
hands of surviving comrades with each Memorial Day, yet, what 
is better still, the principles for which they battled will continue 



2G 



402 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

to live and brighten the pages of American history. This is the 
grandest and most enduring monument, and pays a higher tribute 
to their memory than the most eloquent encomium that can be 
written. These principles will continue to grow stronger and 
stronger, into the very web and woof of our united country, to 
endure through ages to come, an inspiration to loyal hearts and a 
beacon light to all people who are struggling for the rights of 
freedom and the elevation of the human race. Their memory is 
honored, and these principles espoused even by those who bravely 
battled on the other side. 

We pass on to other names : Lieut. James Peacock, reported 
at reunion of 1883, who was severely wounded in the battle of 
Fort Stedman, and was a great sufferer for several years after the 
close of the war, until death relieved him of his sufferings. Also, 
Lieut. Henry M. Ide, whose death was reported at the annual re- 
union of the regiment in 1881. Lieutenant Ide was promoted 
from the grade of sergeant. From the non-commissioned staff 
officers the name of Commissary Sergeant David F. Lawry was 
reported at the reunion in 1*73, who died in East Hampton, 

Conn. 

Also Principal Musician Jesse S. Scott, who died in Leices- 
ter, Mass., September, l« l J2. Musician Scott left an honorable 
record for faithful performance of duty. He first enlisted in 
Company B, 3d Battalion Massachusetts Rifles, May 19th, 1861, 
and was discharged the following August. Enlisted again in the 
bund of the 21st Massachusetts, Aug. 21st, 1861, and was dis- 
charged Aug. 11th, 1862. Enlisted in Company B, Fifty-Sev- 
enth Massachusetts, in December, 1863, and was discharged 

May 26th, 1*65. 

* The following is a list of deaths by companies, given as they 
were reported at reunions. Where no date follows the name, it 

is unknown : — 

Company A.— Corp. Albert S. Allen, reported in L896; Ebenezer A. 
Bartlett, 1894 \ Warren Grimes (69th), reported in 1881 ; Augustus 
j. Trussell, reported 1888; John Teague, July 1st, 1881; James 
Walsh, reported L876; Russell R. Seaver, April 28d, 1803: Henry 



IN MEMORIAM. 10.', 

C. Flint (59th), date unknown; Ebenezer L. Wilson (59th), date 
unknown; Charles F. Dudley, date unknown. 

Company B.— Corp. Ezra C. Bemis, reported 1874; Musician Eugene 
Smith, reported 1893; David N. Chapin, Nov. 5th, 1879: George 
S. Ballou, unknown; Warren E. Brewer, 1871; John Bradley, 
Dec. 23d, 1871; Albert Brigham, July 10th, 1887; William H. 
Clark, Jan. 2d, 1890; John Donahue, March 15th, 1867; Sergt. 
Willis A. Forbes, reported in 1895; James H. Holland, reported in 
1875; Patrick Lyons, March 1st, 1892; William A. Moore, March 
5th, 1881; Royal S. Fierce, May 31st, 1871; Hugh Waters, Aug. 
6th, 1884; Edward Lowell, date unknown; Edwin H. Smith, 
date unknown; Benjamin L. Leonard, at Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, 
Jan. 17th, 1896 

Company C. — Corp. Amos A. Dodge (59th), reported 1884; James 
Ackley, reported 1893; John Neylon, reported 1891; Charles E. 
Spooner (59th), Oct. 31st, 1893; Walter B. Welton, Dec. 15th, 
1891 ; Cornelius Harley, reported 1895. 

Company D.— Sergt. Franklin W. Card, reported 1891; Sergt. Myron 
Goodell, reported 1891; Corp. George F. Lareby, date unknown; 
Musician Morris Welch, reported 1891 ; James Piatt, November, 
1889; J. Bradbury, date unknown; E. C. Jordan, date unknown. 

Company E.— William R. Barrows, date unknown; Frank Blair, date 
unknown; Asa D. Burleigh, reported in 1884 as having died from 
the effects of wounds received in the battle of the Wilderness ; 
Thomas Hughes, Martin Karrigan, Cephas B. Pasco, 1876; George 
W. Pasco, date unknown; Charles H. Parker, reported in 1881, 
and Asa Thompson. 

Company F. —Patrick Brannon, Feb. 21st, 1890; George R. Edgecomb, 
died in Fitchburg, May 2d, 1873; Austin K. Gould, Sept. 8th, 1893; 
Edward Hanrahan, reported in 1890; John Hennessey, reported in 
1894; Stephen H. Nourse, May Kith, 1890; Edgar F. Sawyer, May 
14th, 1894; John Sullivan, reported 1894; Henry A. Wilkius, re- 
ported 1894; Corp. Aaron Wilkins, Aug. 5th, 1887; Michael 
O'Donuell, reported May 15th, 1879; Charles W. Babbitt, Sept. 
10th, 1886; Charles F. Blood, Dec. 27th, 1887 

Company G. — Dennis Donovan, reported 1894; William H. Flagg, 
Jan. 1st, 1871; Frederick E. Goff, Aug. 10th, 1895; Luther C. 
Hawkins, reported 1875; John Morrisey, March 17th, 1892: Melvin 
Ewell, reported in 1891. 

Company H. — Sergt. Walter R. Foster, Oct. 23d, 1879 ; Thomas Conners, 
July loth, 1867; John E. Grout, reported 1875; Charles N. Hair, 



404 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Oct. 19th, 1890; James H. Baymond, May 23d, 1879; Amos Sprague, 
Jan. 20th, L890; Dennis Sbeern, reported in 1891; John Ryan, 
.March 18th, 1867; Charles Timon, reported in 1886; George H. 
Wellman, March. 1880; John F. Wellman, reported 1876; Isaac A. 
Woodcock, Feb. 16th, 1886; Thomas E. Gurney, Jan. 17th, 1892. 

Company I. — Corp. Charles E. Moore, reported in 1892; James B. 
Foster, date unknown; Hush King (59th Mass.), reported Nov. 
10th, 1893: Harvey W. Gould, date unknown: Edward Carroll, date 
unknown; John Crow at Boonville, Mo., Aug. 1, 1879. 

Company K. — Amasa B. Bemis, reported 1883; Isaac G. Maynard, re- 
ported Aug. 8th, 1893; Eugene J. Holyoke, Sept. nth, 1873; Samuel 
H. Holyoke, date unknown; Henry L. Gill, Oct 3d, 1894. 

The following names have been reported at reunions without 
date or company, viz. : D. Shumway and E. E. Jordan. They 
cannot be found on the Adjutant-General's Report, and it is 
believed they are intended for men who have names somewhat 
similar, but the similarity is not sufficiently close to justify the 
changing of them. 

The complete record of reunions up to 1885 are very im- 
perfect, in very many cases omitting the report of deaths. There 
can, therefore, be no doubt but many more comrades have died 
than are reported on the foregoing lists; men who were brave and 
faithful soldiers and whose honorable records merit the highesl 
praise, but what we have already said of others applies to all 
such. A reunited, prosperous and peaceful country stands as an 
enduring monument to their memory. 



CHAPTER XIX. 




STRAGGLERS. 

HERE never was an army in the world, on a long and 
forced march, without some stragglers, and never a 
book written where stray thoughts and items of 
interest did not knock for admission after the doors 
had been closed. We are no exception to the general 
rule. We have had numerous little incidents related to 
us which we are compelled to overlook in order not to 
exhaust the reader's patience. We want to make this work as 
complete as we can without doing so. We are telling our story, 
not alone to those who were participants in the scenes we have 
labored to portray, but that those who follow us in the grand 
drama of life may read of what their sires did and be able to more 
fully understand and appreciate, not only what they accomplished, 
but the great sacrifices they made, for the preservation of our 
beloved country and the extinction of human slavery. Appre- 
ciating all this at its full value, we believe, as we pass on 
into the silence of the unseen future life, our record will staud in 
honor with them, that they will zealously guard it, and be willing 
to brave anything and do all in their power for the protection, 
preservation and perpetuation of those principles which were 
established through so much suffering and at such an immense cost 
of human lives and property ; to them we leave the blessed heri- 
tage of a free, prosperous and united country, in the full enjoy- 
ment of that peace which " passeth all understanding." 

We can only express the hope that it will never require 
another war to save it from threatened danger, yet its destruction 
or the debasement of our American institutions would be a greater 
calamity than any war that ever cursed the face of the earth. 



406 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Three principles enter into the life of every true and noble 
man: religion, country and home. The three are inseparable; 
one taken away and the others lose their value and significance. 
In defence of them a man should, if necessary, be willing to risk 
his life, for death would be preferable to life without them. They 
embrace all the imagination can conceive of the virtues and purity 
of the human race, of their education, elevation and refinement 
and all we hope for in the future as well as in this life. 

We cannot close these pages without paying a well-deserved 
tribute to the loyal women of our fair land, for their faithful 
devotion to the cause for which we were battling ; for their loving 
encouragement and tender nursing. Their tears fell like the 
refreshing dew of heaven, to comfort and bless through the dark 
hours, and build a new hope as a silver lining to stormy clouds. 
Had it not been for their influence the war would not have termi- 
nated in such a glorious victory. As knights of old bore the 
image of some fair lady to battle, so did soldiers carry the love 
and prayers of mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts through 
the perils of four long years of bloody war, as an inspiration to a 
higher sense of duty, a safeguard for the preservation of individual 
honor and a support through all the trying ordeals. Few, very 
few indeed, who buttoned on the army blue and buckled on the 
armor that did not feel that he was also girded about by the 
exalting influence of some noble woman ; their deeds of loving 
kindness, tearful sympathy ami silent prayers followed us always. 
even to the end. No monument stands to mark their patriotic 
devotion to the cause of country, yet we believe that it stands 
recorded upon the pages of that great book kept l»y the recording 
angel " unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known and 
from whom no secrets are hid." 

[f the soldiers Of Hie Union could justly rejoice in the triumph 
of our cause and the victory won. yet the Confederate soldier, 
who suffered defeat, Bhared in the victory. He. too. returned to 

enjoy the Mc-sings of :i united country, to rest in security under 
the protection of just and beneficent laws and to be again clothed 
with all the rights of citizenship claimed by the victor, to clasp 

hands across the graves of tens of thousands of comrades, who 



STRAGGLERS. 407 

had fallen on both sides, in conscientious devotion to what both 
believed to be a duty. When men seal their convictions by their 
life's blood, we cannot doubt their sincerity. Over thirty years 
have passed on their course since the last tragic event sounded 
the requiem of war, each in succession vindicating our cause ; 
not through its triumph, but through its supreme justice and 
righteousness ; and acknowledged by all the civilized nations of 
the world, who are made to respect our flag and our national 
honor, as they never would had a dissolution of the Union been 
the verdict. When we reflect what the consequences would have 
been with the triumph of the Confederate cause, we shudder in con- 
templation of all the endless evils that would have befallen both 
the North and the South. Unfortunate victims of one dissolution 
they would have fallen helplessly into others, until the federation 
of States would have had no more strength than a rope of sand, 
and would have been absorbed by some ambitious power and 
again brought under a foreign monarchy ; the fruits of the 
revolution of 1776 and the rich heritage left by our sires would 
have been sold for far less than a mess of pottage. 

As time " heals all wounds save those of love," so has it 
healed the ghastly wounds of war and hidden the ugly scars under 
the folds of the same dear flag. We have seen the storm pass, and 
trust that the rainbow which follows is promise of a permanent 
peace, loyalty, fraternit}' and prosperity. 

Among the many incidents related around the campfires, one 
of surpassing bravery has been told us, which is vouched for on 
good authority. During the engagement known as the Weldon 
Railroad, while the Fifty-Seventh was under command of 1st 
Lieutenant Doty, it was posted in an exposed position and un- 
supported. 1st Sergt. Edward F. Potter of Company K was 
posted as a marker on the left of the regiment, but before the 
line could be established a terrible assault was made b} 7 the 
enemy and the regiment driven back, but the sergeant 
remained at his post amidst a shower of leaden bullets. The 
right general guide was killed. The general commanding the 
division rode up and exclaimed to the regimental commander, 
" What in h — 1 is that d d fool doiuo- out there? Who in 



■408 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



is he?" To which the regimental commander replied, "That, 
sir, is my left general guide, posted by your order, which he 
obeys." The general then said, " Doesn't the darned fool know 
enough to come in?" The reply was: " That man always obeys 
orders and will stand there until shot, unless relieved by proper 
authority." " Well, relieve him mighty quick," said the general. 
The next morning an order came from the general for the 
sergeant to report to him in person. He reported as directed, 
bat with many misgivings as to what it all meant, whether it 
foreboded good or evil for him. He finally stood trembling in 
presence of the general, who proceeded to take the chevrons 
denoting the rank of sergeant from his arms, but in place of them 
he sent him back to the regiment wearing the straps of a com- 
missioned officer, which he wore with honor until the regiment 
was mustered out of the service. 

At the close of the war several of the officers of the Fifty- 
Seventh received brevet appointments for gallantry displayed in 
action, which is shown in the roster. 

Doctor Whitman V. White, formerly surgeon of the Fifty- 
Seventh, has very kindly contributed the following narrative 
description of the first steps taken to organize the regiment, 
which will be read with much interest : — 

Dear ('attain Anderson: 

Your letter, asking for my narrative to add to the history of the 
Fifty-Seventh Regiment, lias been received. I have long felt it my duty 
to put on record the story of the noble and heroic deeds of so many of 
thai brave regiment, who were wounded, killed and made prisoners, 
under my personal observation. It is to perpetuate what others did and 
Suffered, rather than to relate any part that I took in organizing and 
preparing the regimenl for the field, or my service with them, thai 1 give 
the following narrative: — 

My connection with the regimenl was either accidental <>r providen- 
tial, ami came about, in this way. In 1859, 1 was surgeon of the Massa- 
chusetts militia. After this I left the State and took up my residence in 

New York City, in 1861, l was surgeon of the i:th New Fork Volun- 
teer-, inn resigned in January, 1862, and entered the regular service as 
an A. A. surgeon, in February, 1862, I was ordered on duty at Fori 

Columbus, New York Harbor, and remained there on duty until Novem- 
ber, 1868. At Department Headquarters of the East, New Fork city. I 



STRAGGLERS. 409 

met Surgeon-General Dale of Massachusetts, who said, " If you will 
accept the surgeoncy of one of your own State's regiments, I am 
authorized by Governor Andrew to tender it to you." I have no doubt 
that this was suggested from the fact that my name was on the roll of 
the medical officers of the Massachusetts State militia. The General 
said to me, " You should not allow the war to go over without going into 
service with your own State troops." I accepted the offer, and in three 
days was requested by wire to report at his office in Boston to meet 
Colonel Bartlett. I can never forget the interview. The Colonel on his 
crutches, the larger part of one limb gone, his shattered arm resting in a 
wooden case, that had been beautifully embellished by some loving hand. 
I expressed my surprise that one who had been wounded so many times, 
would consent to go to the field again. He said he thought he was able 
to do so. I replied that it was not a question of ability, but one of 
further sacrifice on his part. This was the commencement of the 
formation of a regiment, which, by official recognition, is known as the 
fourth in the War Department. Of all the regiments from all the States, 
hoth North and South, it lost in battle the greatest number of men in the 
shortest time. There is an error in placing us fourth; we should have 
had the third if not the second place. The manner in which we lost 
our men, places us as one of the most gallant regiments ever in the 
service. 

I was immediately commissioned surgeon and mustered into the 
service of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Infantry, and ordered to 
report for duty at Camp Wool, Worcester. There I found only one 
company partially organized, and that the camp was the rendezvous for 
the last quota of men which the State was called upon to furnish. In 
January, from the men who were sent to the camp unassigned, I selected 
the best for our regiment. The colonel ordered me to visit the western 
part of the State in the interests of the regiment, and gave me permission 
to offer Capt. Edson Dresser, whom I suggested, a commission, if he 
would bring with him a certain number of men. Edson Dresser was at 
this time a member of the junior class of Williams College. By request 
he called upon me at my home, and we made our plans in order to 
comply with Colonel Bartlett's offer. Our town had already filled two 
calls, but this, the third call, was not filled until Captain Dresser and I 
made an appeal to those who were suitable to go. 

In less than two weeks Captain Dresser reported to the camp with 
his men, whose names were: John Crosby, Henry and George .May, 
William and Charles Rathborn, James Vocell, Jacob Kirby, Charles Jones, 
George Schatt'er, N. Peepoon, Henry, Frank and Wilbur Bills, Alouzo 
Collins and John O'Neil. Captain Dresser and most of the non-commis- 
sioned officers of his company, were from Stockbridge or its vicinity, 
consequently it was knowu as the company from Stockbridge, as was the 



410 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



custom in regard to other companies of the regiment. The officers ami 
nucleus of Company F came from Fitchburg. and this company was 
known as the Fitchburg company. Captain Gird, who was studying 
divinity, and many of his men, came from Andover, so that this was 
known as the Andover company. Captain Hollis was from Lynn. 

We induced the colonel to give our minister, the Rev. A. H Dashiell, 
the commission of chaplain. I also appointed Charles E Heath an 
assistant surgeon. The weeks of January and February were spent in 
organizing and recruiting the regiment for the field We were known as 
the Fifty-Seventh Veteran Volunteers, and with one or two exceptions, 
there was no officer commissioned who had not been in the field. In 1862, 
while in the regular service, I had met the 1st Massachusetts, which was 
a two-years' regiment. Among the officers of this gallant regiment I had 
made the acquaintance of Lieutenant Doherty, who had won an enviable 
reputation for his coolness and gallantry at the battle of Gettysburg, 
ami Colonel Bartlett gave me permission to otter him a commission as 
captain. 

Among the incidents which occurred during the formation of this 
regiment, which I recall to mind at this moment, was the enlistment of 
George White. While making my rounds in camp one afternoon, an 
elderly man, accompanied by a woman and a boy, evidently husband, wife 
ami child, came in. I saw that the woman was weeping, and so went to 
her and said, " My good woman, what is the matter?" She answered, 
" Our boy wants to go to the war." The father said. >l I am too old to 
go myself, but I have given my boy permission to go." The mother then 
continued, '• I wanted to see the men that he is going with, ami see sonic 
officer and tell him what a good boy George has always been, and I want 
thai they should look after him."' I immediately replied that the hoy was 
a little undersized and quite young, but that he had a good face, and 1 
would have him enlisted and detailed as my orderly. This was done. 
Afterwards, when we were in the field, he took care of my horse, and 
was, in short, my factotum. In all the vicissitudes of the marches and 
battles to Petersburg, Oeor^e was not only of great service to me per- 
sonally, but also assisted in caring for the wounded at the Held hospital. 
In August, lie was smitten with typhus or camp fever. While he was in 

this condition, an order came from corps headquarters to send e\ cry sick 
man to the rear, as there was a prospect, of an engagement, and all the ac- 
commodations at the hospital Were needed for the wounded. I was so 

strongly attached to George, he had been so faithful, that I had a shelter 
tent put up just outside 1 1 1 \ ow n for him. A rubber blanket placed on i he 
ground and covered with straw was the Improvised lied made for him. 
\ man, acting as uurse, was detailed to look after him. in the delirium 
which so often accompanies this fever, the patienl would crawl out of 
the tent on his hand- and knee-. The Durse would pull him back, and 



STRAGGLERS 411 

sit on the ground beside him until he fell asleep. He made a good 
recovery, aud served faithfully until the end of the Avar. I can say of 
him as his mother said, that " he was a good boy." May I also add now 
that he is a multi-millionaire and a member of Congress. 

There was another incident which illustrates so forcibly the efl'ect 
of kindness that I must repeat it here. During a Sunday morning in- 
spection, while going into every nook and corner, with the officer of the 
day aud the commandant, in the guardhouse I found a young boy with 
a log of wood chained to his ankle. He had been a prisoner for several 
days, and had been obliged to do police duty about camp, sweeping 
and sawing wood, such as is done by the prisoners. From his appear- 
ance, I thought that his punishment was too severe, and so I turned to the 
officer of the day, and said, " I want this log of wood taken off and the 
boy sent to his quarters under guard." I was told that he had been very 
bad and deserved his punishment, as he had, on one or two occasions, 
attempted to desert. My suggestion in regard to the boy was carried 
out. On the next Sunday inspection of the guardhouse, I was told by 
the officer of the clay that the prisoner I had ordered released had deserted. 
The captain of the company said that he would bring him back to camp, 
if it cost him a thousand dollars. 

Upon inspection, two weeks subsequently, I found the boy in the 
guardhouse, handcuffed, and shackles upon his legs. He was not allowed 
to leave the place, and was obliged to sleep on the floor, with nothing 
but a blanket under him aud a single blanket over him. I immediately 
ordered him to the hospital. In the absence of Colonel Bartlett, Major 
Cushing was in command. He seut for me to report to him, and when I 
arrived said, " I learn that yon have ordered this boy Clark to the hospi- 
tal, but I shall not send him unless you will be responsible for his safe 
keeping." "You will send him," I replied, "and as I do not keep this 
camp, you cannot hold me responsible, but if he is not sent immediately, 
I will prefer charges against you." In the afternoon I visited the hospi- 
tal to see if the boy were there. I found him in the centre of the ward, 
on a lied, with a sentinel posted at the foot. Not seeing his clothing on 
a chair, as was customary, I inquired of the orderly where it was. and 
was informed that Major Cushing had ordered him to lock the clothing 
up. I sent the guard away, and told the orderly to bring Clark's clothes 
and put them on the chair beside him, just as was clone for all inmates 
of the hospital. I then sat down beside him, and taking his hand said, 
" James, you have had a hard time." I had learned that his father and 
mother had thought him incorrigible, and had therefore placed him in a 
reformatory at Westborough, from where he had enlisted. The super- 
intendent of the reform school said he was glad to get rid of the worst 
boy he had. I sent for a bowl of mutton broth, and sitting beside him 
while he ate it, said, tl I know that you have had a hard time, and have 



412 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

been neglected and punished and often imposed upon, but I am going to 
be your friend if you "will only do right, and if you have any complaints 
to make, come to me and I will help you." As he looked up at me with 
a pleasant, trusting expression, I felt sure that my efforts had not been 
in vain, and that I had made an impression upon this little villain. 

He soon recovered from his typhoid condition, went back to his 
company, and was not again seen in the guardhouse while we were in 
the State. When Ave were in Annapolis, he Avas Avith us, and marched 
from Annapolis to the battle of the Wilderness, Avhere he was in the 
thickest of the fight. On the 12th of May, at the battle of Spottsylvania, 
our army Avas devastated, and among the Avounded Avas this boy. He 
came to me, and I found that the ball had passed through the top of his 
shoulder, carrying aAvay the middle portion of the collar bone, and mak- 
ing its exit at the top of the shoulder blade. With his eye bright with 
satisfaction he said to me, " Doctor, I have stood all the marches, am) 
the battle of the Wilderness, and this is the first time that I have been 
to the rear." I said, " I kneAv there Avas something good in you, and 
you have shoAvn it, for you have acted nobly. You have your wound, 
but it is not a serious one. It is a Avound that you will be proud to go 
home and show to those Avho thought you Avere Avorthless, and you Avill 
carry it as a mark of heroism and patriotism through your Avhole life." 

WHITMAN V. WHITE, 
Late Surgeon Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. 

Before closing Ave desire to mention the great difficulty that 
we have experienced in obtaining a roster, corrected to date. 
This difficulty has been greatly augmented by the consolidation of 
the 59th Massachusetts with the Fifty-Se\ r enth, just prior to the 
final muster-out. This added about fifteen officers and nearly 
four hundred and fifty enlisted men, whose previous records are 
unknown to us, save that the 59th was brigaded with the Fifty- 
Seventh and was known to be a good regiment. It had passed 
through the same campaign with the Fifty-Seventh, bul did not 
sustain so heavy a battle loss. As has been shown mi previous 

pages, the attempt to form the regimental associations and hold 
the reunions of both regiments as one, did not meet with success, 
hence uc know comparatively little of those who formerly 
belonged to the 59th since their muster out of the Bervice; 
furthermore, \\c arc unable to supply this lack of information and 

are forced to Stand only upon such records of the 59th as are on 
tile ill the office of the Adjutant-General, State of Massachusetts. 



STRAGGLERS. 413 

In our researches through that office we are indebted to the 
courtesy of Col. Wm. C. Capelle, Assistant Adjutant-General, 
and Capt. Warren B. Galucia, who was formerly a gallant officer 
in the 56th Massachusetts. 

To our old comrades of the Fifty-Seventh, who are anxiously 
looking for a history of the old regiment, one that they can read 
with pleasure, and with pride hand down to their children, we 
have only to say that we may not have met your fullest expecta- 
tions, yet we have labored faithfully and earnestly to portray the 
thrilling events with which you were associated, and have con- 
stantly aimed at the truth. If we have failed in this it has not 
been intentional. We have endeavored to place the Fifty-Seventh 
truthfully upon history, alongside of other gallant regiments 
whose records are an honor to the old Commonwealth that 
sent them forth to battle for the life of the general govern- 
ment. 

If injustice has been done in any case, it, also, has been 
unintentional, as we have been actuated only by those hallowed 
sentiments of fraternity, charity and loyalty, to which every true 
soldier, who wore the Federal blue, is solemnly pledged. 

As year by year we continue to gather in reunion upon the 
shores of time, we sadly note one comrade after another borne 
out upon the receding tide of life into the great and silent ocean 
of eternity, and thus, as our circle narrows, we grasp more 
firmly the hands that yet remain, and while waiting the summons 
that will soon come to us all, our hearts join with a deeper pathos 
in the sweet melody of auld lang syne, for 

" We've stood on many a battlefield, 

In firm unbroken line ; 
And faced the foe and scorned to yield, 

In days of auld lang syne. 
And, though those clays are with the past, 

On history's page they shine ; 
We builded well, a work to last, 

In days of auld lang syne. 

We'll stand together now, as then, 

Linked in a three-fold tie ; 
We're comrades now, as well as when 

We dared to do or die. 



414 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT Mass. VOLUNTEERS. 

Fraternity our watchword now 

And charity our aim, 
We mustered then, we muster now 

By loyalty's bright flame. 

And, as the days go passing by, 

And weaker grows our line, 
We'll keep together till we die, 

For days of auld lang syne. 
And, when we muster where the days 

Of endless glories shine, 
A brighter glory then will blaze 

Round days of auld lang syne." 

Xote. — The above poem is published by special permission of the author, 
Comrade James Beals, formerly of G.A.R. Post 68, Department of Massachusetts, to 
whom we wish to return our grateful acknowledgments. 



In submitting the roster to our comrades, we feel it a duty, 
which we owe to ourselves, to call attention to the great labor we 
have expended in our efforts to make it correct and complete to 
date. This work has been greater than all the rest of the history. 
The following correspondence only partially explains the matter. 
We have obtained all the information on file in the office of the 
Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth of [Massachusetts, and 
have corresponded extensively with individual officers and men. 
Adjt.-Gen. H. 0. Moore, Grand Army of the Republic, Depart- 
ment of Massachusetts, also, in a circular addressed to all G.A.R. 
posts within the limits of his Department, asked for information 
that might be of assistance to us, for which courtesy we desire to 
express our sincere thanks. 

That we have succeeded in most cases gives some satisfac- 
tion ; but that we have not accomplished the full purpose is a 
source of regret. Very many of the enlisted men had seen honor- 
able service in the army prior to their enlistment in the Fit'ty- 
St'vcntli, but we have been unable to obtain such records, with 
few exceptions. 

The many obstacles, which have stood in the way of a per- 
fect roster, have delayed the publication of the History several 
months. As presented now it is as complete and correct as we 



STRAGGLERS. 415 

are able to make it. In the spelling of names we have been gov- 
erned by the way the men have signed them upon the rolls. In 
case of professional deserters, of which the Fifty- Seventh had its 
share, their names, no doubt, were assumed. 

We glance down the long list, and hear the familiar names 
through the faintly lingering echo of taps, and see the flickering 
lights go out in rapid succession, as one comrade after another 
sinks to rest under the protecting folds of the flag he loved so 
well, while the remaining fragments of that once proud line of 
blue, known as the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, 
stand in the deepening twilight of mortal life, holding themselves 
in readiness to surrender to that one enemy before whom, sooner 
or later, we must all bow, yet with an imperishable hope that 
this will but open the way to a more glorious and enduring vic- 
tory, the trophies of which will be an immortal life of rest and 
peace. 

We have gathered records of the past in the dim light which 
reveals but little of the magnitude of our great struggle to save 
the nation's life ; our work is only a fading wreath to the memory 
of brave men whose deeds of valor will leave a lingering influence 
upon the people of our country through ages yet to come. 

In preparing the roster of officers we wish to express our 
indebtedness to Col. T. W. Higginson for much information 
gleaned from his valuable work, " Massachusetts in the Army 
and Navy During the War of 1861-65," and to Hon. W. M. 
Olin, Secretary of the Commonwealth, for his devoted friendship, 
patient and zealous efforts in assisting us to obtain information, 
and to many others whose names are not mentioned, we wish to 
express our appreciation for the encouragement they have given 
in various ways. May the good they have done live after them. 



416 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



[COPY.] 

Belchertown, Mass., Jan. 2d, 189G. 
The Adjutant-General, 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass. 
Sir : I respectfully beg to submit that in preparing a Roster of the 
Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, corrected to date, as 
required by a recent act of the General Court, I have, through your 
courtesy, completed the same, as far as the records of your office enable 
me to do, but many records are still left incomplete for lack of informa- 
tion from the .War Department. These were to have been asked for. 
from time to time, by you. Several have already been received, but most 
of them are still lacking, To enable me to anticipate the probable time 
that I can publish the history of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, I have the 
honor to request to be informed when, in your opinion, the information 
which I lack can be obtained from the War Department. This will 
greatly oblige, 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

John Anderson, 
Captain U.S. Army, Historian Fifty- Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, | 
Adjutant-General's Office, - 
Boston, Jan. 4th. 1896. j 
Capt. John Anderson, U.S.A., . 
Belchertown, Mass. 
Captain: Replying to your communication of the 2d instant, you 
are informed that, owing to the orders and instructions of the Honorable 
Secretary of War, Colonel Ainsworth, in charge of the record division 
of the War Department, dec-lines to furnish to the States any informa- 
tion which may be made the basis of a claim against the general 
government, for the completion of State records, or for historical 
purposes. 

Therefore, until we can. in some way, overcome the objection, you 
must be patient. I am sorry that your work should be interrupted, but 
the Large Dumber of applications for the service records of men of your 
regiment, led the Record Office to surmise thai the requirement was for 
the completion of records. 

It will take a little time to get hack the routine which for the 
present is restricted. 

Very respectfully, Wm. C. Capelle, 

Assistant Adjutant-Gt n< ral. 



stragglers. 417 

[copy] 

Belchertown, Mass., Jan. 6th, 1896. 

The Adjutant-General, 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass. 

Sir ; I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of 
the 4th inst., in relation to the subject of incomplete records of men of 
the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, and wish to express my 
thanks for your kindness and courtesy in the matter. I fear the object 
which I have in view is not understood, and therefore beg to submit, for 
the information of the War Department, that I am not interested in any 
way, or doing anything, with a view of establishing a basis for making 
claims against the government. My only object in endeavoring to 
obtain information, is for historical purposes. 

I recognize the necessity of all officers protecting the government 
against fraudulent claims, and I do not ask anything that is not considered 
proper for me to publish in history, and it does not appear to me that 
information which would lead to a correct record of men who served the 
government during the war, could be the means of evil results now. 

It is not within my province to question or criticise the acts of the 
War Department. I simply seek to place myself on record that my true 
purpose may be known; when understood, I trust my honorable motives 
will meet with approval, and such facilities furnished as will enable me 
to make a correct roster. If, after this, I am advised that the decision 
of the War Department is the ultimatum which will not be reconsidered, 
then I will submit the history in its present condition, and trust that, 
under the circumstances, which are beyond my control, it will be 
accepted as the best I can possibly do, and the fact recognized that 
it contains all available information. If not accepted, I fear the 
history of the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Begiment will never be 
written . 

I would like such advice as will definitely guide me in the matter, 
and as a voucher for records that are now shown as incomplete. 

I submit the whole subject to your discretion and good judgment, 
and will cheerfully abide by the same. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

JOHN ANDERSON, 

Captain U.S. Army, Historian Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. 



27 



418 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
Adjutant-General's Office, 
Boston, Jau. 8th, 1896. 
Capt. John Anderson, U.S.A.. 

Belchertown, Mass. 
Dear Captain : In reply to your communication of the 6th instant, 
you are informed that the matter is one affecting the States directly. 
You are not known to the War Department in this. It is the decision of 
the War Department, made last April, that they will not furnish evidence 
to complete the records of the States, or for historical purpose, or as 
the basis for claims, and it affects the State Historian. 

If we should refer your communication to the War Department, it 
would further clinch the purpose of the government and result in still 
further obstacle to us. Your honor or the good faith of this office is not 
questioned ; it is the rule of the Secretary of War which is being 
enforced. 

We fear we may have recourse to Congress for relief. It does not 
affect Massachusetts alone, but all the States having incomplete records. 

Very respectfully, 

WM. C. CAPELLE, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. 




ROSTER 



FIFTY-SEVENTH MASSACHUSETTS 
VOLUNTEERS. 



The residence as given in the Roster does not in every case indicate 
Uial residence, but the town or city to which the enlistment was credited. 

The date of muster into the United States service is given instead of date 
enlistment, as the former was more easily obtained, less liable to error and 
ows date of acceptance into the United States Volunteer Army. 



OFFICERS. 



ILLIAM F. BARTLETT, Colonel, residence, Boston. Born at Haverhill, 
Mass., June 6, 1840 Private 4th Battalion, Mass. Vol. Infantry, April 
14, 1861 ; Captain 20th Mass. Infantry, July 10, 1861 ; wounded and 
lost a leg, April 24, 1862, in action before Yorktowu, Va ; mustered out 
Nov. 12, 1862; Colonel 49th Mass. Infantry, Nov. 19, 1862 (wounded in 
attack on Port Hudson, La.) ; mustered out, by expiration of service, 
Sept. 1, 1863; Colonel 57th Mass. Infantry, Aug. 17, 1863 (wounded in 
battle of Wilderness, Va.) ; Brigadier-General of Volunteers, June 27, 
1864 ; Brevet Major-General of Volunteers, March 13, 1865, for gallant 
and meritorious services during the war — General Orders 148, Oct. 14, 

1865, and General Orders 65 of June 22, 1867; mustered out Oct. 18, 

1866. Died at Pittsfleld, Mass., Dec. 17, 1876. 

A.POLEON B. McLAUGHLEN, Colonel. Born in Vermont, Dec. 8, 
1823. Military record in volunteer service : Colonel 1st Mass. Infantry, 
Oct. 1, 1862; honorably mustered out May 28, 1864; Colonel 57th Mass. 
Infantry, Sept. 14, 1864; Brigadier-General by brevet, Sept. 30, 1864, for 
gallant and distinguished services at Poplar Grove Church, Va. ; mustered 
out cf volunteer service Aug. 10, 1865. Record in regular army : Private, 
Corporal and Sergeant Co. F, 2d Dragoons and General Mounted Service, 
May 27. 1850, to April 28, 1859; 2d Lieutenant 1st. Cavalry, March 27, 
1861; 1st Lieutenant 4th Cavalry. May 3, 1861; Captain 4th Cavalry, 
July 17, 1862 ; Major 10th Cavalry, May 17, 1876 ; Major by lire vet. May :'.. 
1863, for gallant and meritorious services in battle of Chancellors ville, 
Va. ; Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet, July 2, 1863, for gallant and meritorious 
services in the battle of Gettysburg, Pa.; Colonel by brevet, March 13, 
1865, for gallant and meritorious services during the assault on Fort 
Stedman, Va. ; Brigadier-General by brevet, March 13, 1865, for gallant 
and meritorious services in the held during the war ; retired from active 
service at his own request June 26, 1882. Died at Middletown, N.Y., 
Jan. 27, 1887. 



420 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MA88. VOLUNTEERS. 



EDWARD P. HOLLISTER, Lieutenant-Colonel, age 27; residence Pitts- 
field: appointed Dec. 21, 186.'.. Private 7th N.y7 Militia, April 26, 1861 : 
mustered out June 3, 1861; Captain 31st Mass. Infantry, Nov 20, 1861; 
Lieutenant-Colonel 57th Mass. Infantry, Dec. 21, 1862; mustered Feb. 
15, 1864, resigned April 16, 1864. Recent address, 528 Delaware Ave., 
Buffalo, N.Y ^ 

CHARLES L. CHANDLER, Lieutenant-Colonel, residence, Brookline. 
2d Lieutenant 1st Mass. Infantry, May 25, 1861; 1st Lieutenant, March 
21, 1862; Captain 34th Mass. Infantry, Aug. 6, 1862; Lieutenant-Colonel 
40th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 24, 1864, not mustered; Lieutenant-Colonel 
57th Mass. Infantry, April 20, 1864; killed in battle of North Anna 
River, Va., May 24, 1864. 

JULIUS M. TUCKER. Lieutenant-Colonel, age 23; residence, Worcester; 
appointed June 15, 1864. Enlisted as private in Co. A, 25th Mass., 
Sept. 16, 1861, discharged for promotion; 2d Lieutenant 36th Mass., 
Aug. 8, 1862, resigned July 29, 1863; 1st Lieutenant 57th Mass., Jan. 
1, 1864; Captain, Jan. 6, 1864; Major, June 14, 1864; Lieutenant - 
Colonel, .June 15.1864; Brevet-Colonel U.S. Volunteers. March 13, 1865, 
for gallant and meritorious services — General Orders (',;,. A.G.O., June 
27, 1867 : mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Died in 
Boston, June 22, 1866. 

JAMES W. CUSHING. Major, age 3s : residence, Roxbury. . 1st Lieutenant 
31st Mass. Infantry. Feb. 20, 1862; Major 57th Mass., Jan. 27, L864; 
resigned May 26, 1864. Record and address since, unknown. 

ALBERT PRESCOTT. Major, age 34; residence, Charlestown. 1st Sergeant 
Co. K, M.V.M. (three months), April 19 to July 31, 1861; 1st Sergeant 
Co. B, 36th Mass., July 30, 1862; Captain Co. B, 36th Mass., Aug. 28, 
1862; resigned April 29, L863; Captain 57th Mass., March 2, 1864; Major 
5711) .Mass., June 15, 1864; killed in battle (crater, Va.) July 30, 1864. 

JAMES DOHERTY, Major, residence, Boston. Sergeanl 1st Mass. Infantry, 
May 23, 1861; 2d Lieutenant. Sept. 9, L862; resigned Jan. 27, L864; 
Captain 57th Mass., March 17. 1864; Major. July 31, 1864, not mustered; 
Brevel Lieutenant-Colonel is. Volunteers, March 25, L865, for gal- 
lantry in the battle of Fori Stedman, Va -General Orders No. L33, 
An--. '22. 1865. Died March 26, 1865, of wounds received in the battle 
of Fort Steadman, Va. 

EZRA P. GOULD, Major, residence, Cambridge. Private 24th Mass. In- 
fantry. Oct. 18, L861; 2d Lieutenant 55th Mass. Iufantrv. Oct. 15. L863; 
(.[plain 59th Mass. [nfantry, Jan. 22, L864; Major. Aug. 20, L864; 
transferred to 57th Mass. [nfantry, June 1. 1865;. mustered out, by ex- 
piration of service, July 30, L865. Presenl residence. Philadelphia, Penn. 

WHITMAN V. WHITE, Surgeon, age 28 ; residence, Stockbridge. Surgeon 
with rank of Major, 27th N V. [nfantry, Sept. 11, [861; resigned Dec 
31, [861. Major and Surgeon 57th Mass. [nfantry, Dec. 5, [868; 
mustered out, expiration of service. July 80, [865. Present address, 
No. I I I Last 85th St., New York City. 



ROSTER — OFFICERS. 421 



CHARLES E. HEATH, Assistant-Surgeon (rank of 1st Lieutenant), .age 
32; residence, Monterey. Appointed Jan. 13, 1864. Discharged Nov. 22, 

1864, per order War Department, A.G.O., Washington, Jan. 28, 1865. 
Died at Lee, Mass., Oct. 5, 1887. 

CHARLES O. CARPENTER, Assistant-Surgeon (rank of 1st Lieutenant), 
age 2G; residence, Holyoke. Appointed May 6, 1864; discharged for 
disability Jan. 30, 1865; Previous service, as Assistant-Surgeon U.S. 
Navy; appointed July 30, 1861; resigned .May 27, 1863. Service on 
board the Ottawa in South Atlantic Squadron. At present date, prac- 
ticing physician in Holyoke, Mass. 

DAVID S. CLARK, Assistant-Surgeon (rank of 1st Lieutenant) ; residence, 
Derry, N.H. Appointed in 59th Mass., March 20, 1865; transferred to 
57th Mass. by consolidation; mustered out, by expiration of service, 
July 30, 1865. Residence since, unknown. 

MICHAEL F. GARVIN, Assistant-Surgeon (rank of 1st Lieutenant), age 
23: residence, Boston. Appointed May 5, 1865; mustered out, by expira- 
tion of service, July 30, 1865. Residence since, unknown. 

ALFRED H. DASHIELL, Jr., Chaplain, age 40; residence, Stockbridge. 
Appointed April 14, 1861; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 

1865. Present residence, Lakewood, N.J. Degree of Doctor of Divinity 
conferred by Rutherford College, North Carolina, June 15, 1891. 

JOHN W. SANDERSON, Captain, age 32; residence, Westboro. Private 
51st Mass. Sept. 25, 1862; 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 2, 1862; mustered out 
July 27, 1863; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Oct. 21, 1S63 ; 
Captain, Dec. 26, 1863. Discharged for disability (on account of 
wounds) Nov. 10, 1864, per Special Orders 395, War Department, Nov. 

10, 1864. Died at Colfax, Iowa, Jan. 13, 1884. 

JOSEPH W. GIRD, Captain, age 24, residence, Worcester. Private 25th 
Mass. Infantry, Oct. 4, 1861; 1st Lieutenant 36th Mass. Infantry, Aug. 

11, 1862; resigned May 19, 1863; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, 
Nov. 3, 1863; Captain, Dec. 31, 1863; killed in battle of Wilderness, Va., 
May 6, 1864. 

GEORGE H. HOWE, Captain. Born in Monson, Mass., 1840. Enlisted 
from Monson in Co. G, 46th Mass., and appointed 1st Lieutenant Oct. 
15. 1862: mustered out, by expiration of service, July 29, 1863; 2d 
Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Nov. 2, 1863; Captain, Jan. 25, 1864; 
killed in battle before Petersburg, Va. (crater), July 30, 1864, while 
acting Inspector-General, First Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army 
Corps, Army of the Potomac. 

EDSON T. DRESSER. Captain, residence, Stockbridge. 1st Lieutenant 
49th Mass. Infantry, Sept. 20, 1862; mustered out, by expiration of 
service, Sept. 1, 1863; Captain 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 25, 1864. 
Killed in battle before Petersburg, Va. (crater), July 30, 1864. 

LEVI LAWRENCE, Captain: residence, Fitchburg. 1st Lieutenant 25th 
Mass., Oct. 12, 1861; resigned July 21, 1862. Captain 57th Mass., Feb. 
11, 1864; discharged for disability (wounds received in battle), Sept. 
19, 1864. Drowned at sea by wreck of steamship City of Columbus of 
the Savannah Line, off Gay's Head, Mass., Jan. 18, 1884. 



422 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



CHARLES D. HOLLIS, Captain, age 39; residence, Lynn. Enlisted in 
the 46th Mass. Infantry, Aug. 19, 1862; mustered out, by expiration of 
service, July 29, 1863; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry* Oct. 13, 1863; 
1st Lieutenant, Feb. 11, 1864; Captain, April 9, 1864; discharged for 
disability ("wounds received in battle), Oct. 13, 1864. Present residence, 
Lynn. Mass. 

FREDERICK COCHRANE, Captain, age 26 ; residence, Met linen. 2d Lieu- 
tenant 50th Mass Infantry. Sept. 19, 1862; mistered out Aug. 24, 
1863; 2d Lieutenant 59th Mass. Infantry. Sept. 11, 1863; Captain, April 

20, 1864; transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry, by consolidation of the 
57th and 59th, .lune 1, 1865: mustered out, by expiration of service, 
July 30, 1865. Address, June 30, 1895, Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, Mass. 

ALBERT W. COOKE, Captain; residence, Milford. Born at Shelburne 
Falls, Mass.. Sept. 18, 1843. Enlisted in Co. B, 25th Mass.. from 
Milford, Sept. 6, 1861; promoted Corporal the same day; Sergeant, 
April 15, 1862; 1st Sergeant, Sept. 19, 1862; discharged in December, 
1863, to accept commission; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry. Jan. 7, 
1864; Ls1 Lieutenant,, March 4, 1864; Captain, June 15, 1864. On stall' 
of Third Brigade, First Division, Ninth Corps. Army of the Potomac, as 
Provosl Marshal, in April, 1865; Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of 
the Brigade in May, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 
30, 1865. Residence at present date (Jan. 31, 1896), No. 16 Appleton St., 
Maiden, Mass. Business address, 31 State St., Boston. Mass. 

HENRY L. SWORDS, Captain, age 22: residence, Charlestown. Private 
36th Mass. Infantry, July 26, 1862; 2d Lieutenant 59th Mas-. Infantry. 
Oct. 6, 1863; Is1 Lieutenant, Jan. 6, 1864; Captain. June 17. 1861: 
transferred to the 57th Mass. infantry, by consolidation of the 57th and 
59th. June l, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service. July 80, 
1865 ; appointed Major U.S. -Volunteers by brevet for gallanl and 
meritorious conduct before Petersburg, Va., to date from April 2. 1865, 
per Genera] Orders No. 65, War Department, A. <;.<>.. June l'2, 1867. 
Recent address, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. 

JOSEPH W. GELRAY. Captain, age 27 ; residence, Lowell. Born in Eng- 
land. Record in volunteer service: Private and Corporal Co. A and 
Sergeant Co. II, 2d Mass Infantry, May 25. 1861, to Dec. 24, 

L862; 2d Lieutenant 2d Mass. Infantry. Dec. 25. 1862; 1st Lieutenant, 
Nov. 1, L863, honorably mustered ou1 duly 24, L864. Captain 57th Mass. 
Infantry, July 25, 1864; honorablj mustered <>ui Nov. 14, L864. Major 
•iih Mass. Heavy Artillery, Dec. 7, 1864; honorably mustered out June 

17. 1865 Appointed in Regular Army as Captain I ."» 1 ! i IS. Infantry, 
July 28, L866. Retired from active service Dec 15, 1870, on account of 

disability, loss of righl arm ff wound in line id' duly. Appointed 

Lieutenant-Colonel I S. Arm\ bj brevet, for gallant and meritorious 
services in t he battle of Gettysburg, to date from March 2. 1867, General 
Orders No 89, War Department, A.G.O., Sept. 26, L867. Presenl 

address, care War Department, Washington, DC 

JOHN L. GOODWIN. Captain. . -me 23; residence, Worcester. Mustered as 
Private Co. \. '.'5111 Mass., Sept. 11, 1861 ; discharged Jan. 6, 1864, to 
accepl commission 1st Lieutenanl 57th Mas-. Infantry, Jan. 6, 1864; 
Captain, July 81, 1864; not mustered on accounl of absent, wounded; 



ROSTER — OFFICERS. 423 

discharged (as 1st Lieutenant) for disability from wounds received in 
line of duty. Died in Worcester, Mass., Nov. 22, 1867. 

HENRY C. WARD, Captain, age 21 ; residence, Worcester. Private and 
Sergeant-Major 15th Mass. Infantry, July 31, 1861, to April 9, 1863; 2d 
Lieutenant, April 9, 1863; resigned Sept. 4, 1863; 1st Lieutenant 57th 
Mass Infantry, March 9, 1861; Captain, July 31, 1864; honorably 
mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865; appointed in the 
regular army as 2d Lieutenant 11th U.S. Infantry, Feb. 23, 1866, 1st 
Lieutenant same clay; transferred to 16th U.S. Infantry, April 14, 1869; 
regimental Quartermaster, March 1, 1875, to Feb. 8, 1880; Captain by 
brevet U.S. Army, to date from March 2, 1867, for gallant and merito- 
rious services during the war and in action at Fort Stedman, Va., March 
24, 1865 — General Orders 33, April 9, 1869. Military adviser on staff of 
governor of Tennessee from 1892 to (in that capacity at present date) 
Jan. 31, 1896. Address, care of Adjutant-General, Nashville, Tenn. 

HENRY M. CROSS, Captain, age 22; residence, Newburyport. Private 
48th Mass. Infantry, Sept. 16, 1862; mustered out Sept. 3, 1863; Private 
and Sergeant-Major 59th Mass. Iufantry, Nov. 1, 1863; 2d Lieutenant, 
Nov. 24, 1863; 1st Lieutenant, April 26, 1864; Captain, Aug. 20, 1864; 
transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry by consolidation of 57th and 59th, 
June 1, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865. 
Recent address, Newburyport, Mass. 

JOHN FOLEY, Captain. 2d Lieutenant 59th Mass. Infantry, Dec. 16, 1863; 
1st Lieutenant, June 21,1864; Captain, Sept 10, 1864; mustered out to 
date July 30, 1865 — Special Order 245, War Department, A.G.O , dated 
Oct. 20, 1887, to amend his record so as to make him Captain in the 59th 
Mass., Sept. 10, 1864. No date of transfer to the 57th. Recent address, 
173 Fifth St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 

GEORGE E. BARTON, Captain, age 24; residence, Worcester. Corporal 
Co. C, 51st Mass. Infantry, mustered in, Sept. 25, 1862; Sergeant-Major, 
Nov. 4, 1862; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 27, 1863; 2d 
Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 6, 1864; 1st Lieutenant, April 9, 
1864; Captain, Sept. 20, 1864;* mustered out July 26, 1865. Died in 
Worcester, Mass., May 29, 1878. 

L. CURTIS BRACKETT, Captain, age 23; residence, Boston. Sergeant- 
Major 28th Mass. Infantry, Oct. 12, 1861; 2d Lieutenant, April 4,^1862; 
1st Lieutenant, Sept. 24, 1862; Captain, May 12, 1863 (declined com- 
mission); transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry, Nov. 9, 1864; Captain, 
Dec 14, 1864; Major of Volunteers by brevet for conspicuous gallantry 
in the attack on Fort Stedman and Petersburg, Va., to date from April 
2, 1865 — General Orders 65, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 
June 22, 1867. Record since discharge, unknown. 

CHARLES BARKER, Captain, residence, Fitchburg. Lieutenant in the 
Fitchburg Guards at breaking out of the war. Appointed 1st Lieutenant 
21st Mass. Infantry, Aug. 21, 1861; resigned, on account of ill health, 
June 16, 1862; 1st Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Feb. 18, 1864; 
Captain, Nov. 11, 1864 (not mustered). Discharged as 1st Lieutenant, 
Dec. 17, 1864, for disability, result of wound received in battle of 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, 1864. Present residence, Leominster, Mass. 



424 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



ALFRED O. HITCHCOCK. Captain, age 23 ; residence, Fitchburg. Enlisted 
as Private Co. A, 53d Mass. Infantry (9 months), Dec. 9, 1862 (wounded 
at Fort Hudson) ; mustered out, by expiration of service, Sept. 2, 1863; 
2d Lieutenant .'.7th Mass. Infantry, Oct. 17, 1863; 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 
2L 1864: Captain, Nov. 11, 1864; mustered May 19, 1865; served as 
aide-de-camp on the staff of Major-General Nelson A. Miles at Fortress 
Munroe, Va., from May 26, 1865, to April, 1866, also as Provost Marshal, 
Military District of Fortress Munroe: honorably mustered out April 19, 
1866; appointed Major U.S. Volunteers by brevet for meritorious and 
gallant services in the field, to date from March 13, 1865 — General 
Order- 65, War Department. June 22, 1867. At present date (Jan. 31, 
1896), practicing physician in Fitchburg, Mass. 

ALBERT PINDER, Captain, age 33; residence, Lowell. 2d Lieutenant 6th 
Mass. Infantry, Aug. 31, 1862; mustered out June 3, 1863; 2d Lieutenant 
59th Mass. Infantry, March 30, 1864; 1st Lieutenant, July 31, 1864; 
Captain, March 25, 1865; transferred to 57th Mass Infantry, by con- 
solidation of 57th and 59th, June 1, 1865: mustered out, by expiration 
of service, July 30, 1865. Recent address, Lowell, Mass. 

BENJAMIN F. CHESLEY, Captain, age 23 ; residence, Haverhill. 2d Lieu- 
tenant 17th Mass. Infantry, Aug. "21, 1861; resigned Dee. 27, L861; 1st 
Lieutenant 59th .Mass. Infantry, March 3, L864; Captain, March 25, 
1865; transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry, by consolidation of 57th and 
59th, June 1. 1865; appointed Captain by brevet to date from March 25, 
1865, for gallantry at Fort Stedman, Va. — General Orders 133, Aug. 22, 
1865, and June 22, 1867, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office; 
mustered out, by expiration of service, Aug. 8, 1865. Record since. 
unknown. 

GEORGE E. PRIEST, ist Lieutenant, age 21 : residence, Walertown. En- 
listed as Private. 53d Mass. Infantry. Nov. 6, 1862; 1st Lieutenant. Nov. 
15, 1862; mustered out, by expiration of service, Sepl 2, 1863; 1st Lieu- 
tenant and regimental Quartermaster 57th Mass. infantry, Nov. 5, 1863; 
mustered out, by expiration of service. July 30, 1865. Acting Briirade 
Quartermaster on staff of General McLaughlen, Third Brigade, First 
Division, Ninth Army Corps, from Oct., 1864, to July 30, 1865. At pres- 
ent date, Treasurer of the Watertown Savings Lank and Chairman Board 
of Trustees, Public Library of Watertown, Mass. Residence (to date), 

Walertown. Mass. 

Samuel M. bowman, ist Lieutenant, residence, Worcester. Enlisted in 
Co. A, 51sl Mass. [nfantrj nine months); mustered as Sergeant, Sept. 
25, 1862; discharged, by expiration of service, July. 1863; 1st Lieutenant 
57th Mass. Infantry, Dec. 26, 1863; killed in trenches from of Peters- 
burg, Va., July 25, L864. 

E. DEXTER CHENEY, ist Lieutenant, age 2 I . residence. Worcester. Fn- 

• listed as Sergeanl Co. F, 61sl Mass. Infantry, Oct. 14, 1862; mustered 

out, by expiration of service. July 27, L868; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. 
Infantry, ))>■!-. 81, 1868; Lsl Lieutenant. Jan. l'.t. 1864; killed while on 

duty with his regimenl in the trenches in front of Petersburg, Va., July 
l'.t, 1864. 



ROSTER — OFFICERS. 425 



JOHN H COOK, ist Lieutenant, age 22; residence, Northampton. Enlisted 
as Private Co. C, 10th Mass. Infantry, June 21, 1861 ; discharged for dis- 
ability July 17, 1862; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Nov. 27, 1863; 
1st Lieutenant, Feb. 10, 1861; discharged Dec 27, 1864, "disability result- 
ing from gunshot wound through the body while on duty with his regi- 
ment, serving in the trenches in front of Petersburg, Va. : Captain and 
Major U.S. Volunteers by brevet, to date from March 13, 1865, for gal- 
lant and meritorious conduct in the campaign before Petersburg, Va. — 
General Order 91, War Department, A.G.O.TOct. 9, 1867. Served twenty- 
five years in the Boston Custom House, and was Auditor from 1890 until 
day of his death: Department Inspector G. A. R. Mass. and Commander 
Kinsley Post 113, G.A R. Served in the General Court of Massachusetts 
in 1875, 1876 and 1877. Died at his home in Roxbury, Mass., 
Aug. 19, 1893. 

EDWARD S. DEWEY, ist Lieutenant, age 20; residence, Montague. Cor- 
poral Co. G, 10th Mass. Infantry, June 21, 1861; discharged Jan. 17, 1864 
(for promotion) : 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 18, 1861; 1st 
Lieutenant, March 2, 1864; discharged for disability Sept. 20, 1864. 
Present address, Custom House, Boston, Mass. 

ALBERT DOTY, ist Lieutenant, age 23. Enlisted from Hancock, Mass., and 
mustered as Private in Co. I, 57th Mass., March 10, 1864; 1st Lieuten- 
ant, July 14, 1864 ; Captain U.S. Volunteers by brevet, Aug. 18, 1864, per 
General Orders No 15, War Department, Feb. 6, 1865, for gallant ser- 
vices in the operations on the Weldon Railroad, Va. ; mustered out, by 
expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Previous service as adjutant of a 
volunteer regiment of infantry from New York, of which Ave have no 
record. Death reported at the regimental reunion in 1874, date unknown. 

CHARLES H. ROYCE, ist Lieutenant, age 20: residence, Monticello, N.Y. 
Enlisted from Pittsfleld, Mass., as Private in Co. G, 37th Mass Infantry, 
and mustered Aug. 30, 1862 ; discharged to accept commission April 8, 
1864; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 28, 1864; 1st Lieutenant, 
Oct. 7, 1864; mustered out May 26, 1865. Appointed Captain, by brevet, 
U.S. Volunteers for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of 
North Anna River, Va., to date from March 13, 1865, and Major U S. 
Volunteers by brevet, as of same date, for gallant and meritorious ser- 
vices before Petersburg, Va., General Orders, War Department, Oct. 9, 
1867. United States Consul at Prague. Bohemia, from 1868 to 1873. 
Present residence, Monticello, N.Y. 

JAMES W. KENNAY, ist Lieutenant, age 27 ; residence, Boston. Enlisted 
and mustered as Private in Co. C, 13th Mass. Infantry, July 16, 1861; 
Sergeant, Nov. 1, 1862: discharged (date unknown); enlisted in 57th 
Mass. Infantry Jan. 4, 1864; 2d Lieutenant, April 9, 1864; 1st Lieutenant, 
Oct. 7, 1864 (not mustered) ; discharged for disability Dec. 27, 1864, as 
2d Lieutenant. Record and address since, unknown. 

ALBERT M. MURDOCK, ist Lieutenant, age 19; residence, Worcester. 
Enlisted and mustered as Private in Co. H, 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan 11, 
1864; Senreant-Major same date: 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 7, 1864; killed in 
battle of Fort Stedman, Va., March 25, 1865. 



426 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

HENRY M. IDE, ist Lieutenant, age 33; residence, Worcester. Sergeant 
Co. 15. 3d Battalion Riflemen: mustered in April 19, 1861; mustered out 
May 3, 1861; Corporal Co. A, 25th Mass. Infantry: mustered in Sept. 
14, 1861 ; discharged for disability June 10, 1863; Private Co. H, 57th 
.Mass Infantry: mustered in Jan. 11,1864; wounded June 17. 1864; 1st 
Lieutenant. Oct. 7, 1864; mustered out, expiration of service, July 30, 
1865. Death reported, no date, at reunion in 1881. 

JAMES H. MARSHALL, ist Lieutenant, aire 21; residence Pittsfleld. 
Mustered as 1st Sergeant Co. I. 57th Mass. Infantry. March 10, 1864; 
ls1 Lieutenant, Oct. 7. 1864; Captain U.S. Volunteers, by brevet, for 
gallant and meritorious service in the battles before Richmond, Va., 
to date from .March 29, 1865, per General Order 65, June 22, 1867; 
mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Died at Wash- 
ington, D.C., Dec. 10, 1892. Clerk for Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs 

EDWARD F. POTTER, ist Lieutenant, age 22: residence, Greenfield. 
Enlisted and mustered as Private Co. G, 10th Mass. Infantry. .June 21, 
L861; discharged for disability June 1, 1863: enlisted in 7,7th Mass. 
Infantry, date unknown: 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 7, 1864; mustered out, by 
expiration of service. July 30, 1865; since, postmaster at Gardner, Mass. 
Present address, Gardner (or West Gardner), Mass. 

JAMES GIBSON, ist Lieutenant, age 27 ; residence, Boston; 2d Lieutenant 
13th Mass Infantry. April 1, 1863; 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant 59th 
Mass. Infantry. Nov 19, 1863; Captain, Dec. 10, 1863; resigned Feb. 15, 
1864; Private' and Sergeant-Major 59th Mass. Infantry. Feb. 29, 1864; 
mustered March 12, 1864; 1-t Lieutenant, Oct. 7. 1864; transferred to 
57th Mass. Infantry. June 1, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of ser- 
vice, Jul] 30, L865. Record and address since, unknown. 

THOMAS STURGIS, ist Lieutenant, age 18; residence, New York: 1st 
Lieutenant and Adjutant, 60th Mas-. Infantry. Aug 1, L864; mustered 
,,ui \o\ 30, 1864; ls1 Lieutenant :,7th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 27, L865; re- 
signed June 26, L865. Record and residence since, unknown. 

WILLIAM A. BEARCE. ist Lieutenant, age 39; residence, Chelsea; 2d 
Lieutenant 59th Mass. Infantry, Oct. 7. 1864; commission cancelled : Lsl 
Lieutenant 59th Mass Infantry, March 25, 1865; transferred to 57th 
Mass [nf an try, June I, L865; mustered out. expiration of service, July 
30, L865 Record of service prior to Oct. 7, L864, unknown. Record 
and residence since discharged, unknown. 

CHARLES L. DARLING, ist Lieutenant, age 27; residence, Boston. En- 
Listed as Private in Co. <;. 59th Mass. [nf . March I. L864 ; '^\ Lieutenant. 
Oct. 7. L864; commission cancelled: ist Lieutenant, March 25, 1865; 
transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry, June i. 1865; mustered out, by 
expiration of service, July 80, L865. Residence, recenl date. Beverly, 
Mass. 

COBURN S. SMITH, ist Lieutenant, age 21 ; residence, Billerica. 1st Lieu- 
tenant 69th Mass Infantry. March 25, L865; transferred to 57th Mass. 
Infantry. June l. 1865; mustered out . 1 1 1 1 > 80, 1865, expiration of service. 
Record of service prior to March 25, L865, unknown. Record and resi- 
dence sine mustered out, unknown. 



ROSTER — OFFICERS. 427 



BENJAMIN R. SYMONDS, ist Lieutenant, age 21 ; residence, South Danvers. 
1st Lieutenant 59th Mass Infantry, March 25, 1865; transferred to 57th 
Mass. Infantry, June 1, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 
30, 1865. Record of service prior to March 25, 1865, unknown. Record 
and residence since muster out, unknown. 

SAMUEL CURRIER, ist Lieutenant, age 31; residence, Natick. Enlisted 
in the 13th Mass. Infantry, July 16, 1861 ; wounded at the battle of 
Antietam Sept. 17, 1862: discharged, disability, date unknown; enlisted 
in Co. D, 59th Mass. Infantry, Jan 1, 1864; mustered as Sergeant Feb. 
9, 1865; transferred to 57th Mass. Infantry as Sergeant Co. D, June 1, 
1865. 1st Lieutenant, June 12, 1865: mustered June 26, 1865; mustered 
out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Present residence, Natick, 
Mass. 

GEORGE ADAMS, ist Lieutenant, age 25; residence, Boston. Mustered in 
as 1st Sergeant Co. G, 57th Mass. Infantry. March 10, 1864: 1st Lieu- 
tenant, June 12, 1865: mustered June 26, 1865; mustered out, by expira- 
tion of service, July 30, 1*65. Record of service prior to March 10, 
1864, unknown. Record and residence since mustered out, unknown. 

CHARLES F. LEE, 2d Lieutenant, age 22; residence, Templeton. Enlisted 
and mustered as Corporal Co. A, 18th Mass. Infantry, Aug. 24, 1861; 
discharged Oct. 2, 1862, for disability, result of wounds received in 
action Aug. 30, 1862 *; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Oct. 21, 1863; 
discharged, disability, May 17, 1864; 2d Lieutenant 55th Mass. Infantry, 
Dec. 10, 1864; 1st Lieutenant. June 23, 1865; mustered out, by expira- 
tion of service, Aug. 29, 1865; Captain U.S. Volunteers by brevet, to 
date from March 13, 1865, per General Order, War Department, A G.O., 
Oct. 14. 1868. Record and residence since muster out, unknown. 

EDWIN I. COE. 2d Lieutenant, age 19; residence, Worcester. Enlisted 
and mustered as Corporal Co. F, 51st Mass. Infantry, nine months, Oct. 
14, 1862; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 27, 1863; 2d 
Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Dec. 31, 1863; killed in battle before 
Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864. Acting Adjutant at time of death. 

JOHN ANDERSON. 2d Lieutenant, residence, Holland. Born at Monson, 
Mass., 1841; enlisted from Lansing-, Mich , Jan. 5, 1863, in Co. E, 1st 
Michigan Sharpshooters ; discharged to accept commission, Feb. 9, 
1864. Mustered as 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, Feb. 10, 1864 ; 
discharged, disability, wound received in action, Jan. 21, 1865 ; 2d 
Lieutenant, 20th Veteran Reserve Corps, March 25. 1865, mustered 
out June 30, 1866; 1st Lieutenant and Captain by brevet to date from 
March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services in the battles 
before Petersburg, Va. — General Orders 67, War Department, A.G.O., 
July 16, 1867. Service in the regular army as follows: 2d Lieuten- 
ant 25th U.S. Infantry, Aug. 10, 1867; transferred to 18th U.S. Infantry, 
April 26, 1869; 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 17, 1878; Captain, June 21, 1890. 
Retired from active service June 6, 1894, on account of disability in 
line of duty (Section 1251, Revised Statutes U.S ). Residence since, 
Belchertown, Mass. 



*The above record considered correct, but not altogether official. — J. A. 



428 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



HENRY B FISKE, 2d Lieutenant, residence, Springfield. Appointed Feb. 
11, 1864; 1st Lieutenant, Oct. 7, 1864: declined commission : discharged, 
as 2d Lieutenant, for disability, Sept. 5. 1864. Record of service prior to 
Feb. 11, 1864, unknown. Residence reported, recent date, 129 Daven- 
port St., Cleveland, Ohio. 

JOHN READE, 2d Lieutenant, residence, Milford. 1st Lieutenant, 48th 
Mass Infantry, nine months, Nov. 15, 1862; resigned. .March 1. 1863; 
2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry, March 2, 1864 (prisoner of war July 

30, 1864, to 1865); mustered out May 15, 1865; 1st Lieutenant and 

Captain, by brevet, to date from March 1,5, 1865. for faithful services 
during the campaigns of 1864 and 1865 — General Order 45. War Depart- 
ment, A.G.O., April 24. 1869. Served in the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts 1879, 1880 and 1881, in the Senate (Mass.) 1891 and 1892. 
Residence, present date, 187 Main St., Charlesto-wn, Mass. 

GEORGE S. GREEN, 2d Lieutenant, age 30: residence, Springfield, Enlisted 
and mustered into the U S. service as Corporal Co. F, 10th Mass. 
infantry, June 21, 1861; re-enlisted Dec. 21, 1863; discharged as 1st 
Serjeant, Feb. 8, 1864; 2d Lieutenant 57th Mass. Infantry. March 1. 
1864 : discharged, disability, Oct. 5, 1864: Major by brevet, t<> date from 
March 13, 1865, per General Order 67, War Department, A.G.O., July 16, 
1867. liesideuce, recent date, Aurora, 111. 

JAMES M. CHILDS.id Lieutenant, age 36; residence, Worcester. Mustered 
into the U.S. sen ice as 1st Sergeant Co. B, 57th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 4, 
L864; 2d Lieutenant. April 9, L864; killed in the battle of the Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, 1864 Record of service prior to that in the 57th 

unknown. 

JAMES PEACOCK, 2d Lieutenant, aire 24 : residence, Worcester. Mustered 
into the U.S. service as Private Co. D, 15th Mass. Infantry. July 12. 
1861; discharged for disability. Nov. 22. 1862; 1st Sergeant Co. B, 57th 
.Mass. Infantry, Jan. 4, 1864; 2d Lieutenant, April 9, 1864; discharged, 
Ma\ 25, 1865, on account of wounds received in battle of Fort Stednian. 
Va., March 25, 1865. Died at Worcester. Mass., date unknown. Re- 
ported at regimental reunion of 1883 

CHARLES H. PINKHAM, 2d Lieutenant, age 20; residence. Worcester. 
Mustered as Corporal Co. II. 57th. Jan. 11, 1864; Sergeant-Major, Jan. 
1, L865; 2d Lieutenant, June 12, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of ser- 
vice, July 30, 1865; 1st Lieutenant and Captain by brevet, to date from 
March 13, 1865, •' for gallant and meritorious conduct while in front of 
Petersburg in 1864, and more especially tor gallantry on the 25th of 
March, 1865, he, at thai time, capturing the colors of the 57th North 
Carolina Volunteers of Gordon's rebel brigade*." Awarded a medal of 
honor for the same service, and iii saving the colors of his own regi- 
ment from capture. Present residence, Worcester, Mass. 

PATRICK gilmore, 2d Lieutenant, age 14; residence, West Springfield. 
lsi Sergeant Co. D, 57th Mass. infantry, Jan. 25, L864; 2d Lieutenant, 
June 12, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service, Julj 80, 1865. 
Record of service prior to Jan. 25, 1864, unknown. Record and residence 
since muster oul , unknovi q. 



•The words embraced In quotation :irc from QeneraJ orders No. 67, War Department, 
Adjut.'int-i.'iM mi's Office, dated July 16, 1867. J.A, 



ROSTER — OFFICERS. 429 

CHARLES E. BARNARD, 2d Lieutenant, age 23; residence, Worcester. 
Enlisted and mustered into service in Co. E, 15th Mass. Infantry, July 
30, 1861 ; discharged for disability, wounds received in action, Nov. 24, 
1862; 1st Sergeant Co. F, 57th Mass. Infantry, Feb. 18, 1864; 2d 
Lieutenant, June 12, I860 ; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 
30, 1865. Died at Worcester, Mass., June 18, 1887. Cause of death, 
wounds received in action. 

CHARLES L. DEFOSE, 2d Lieutenant, residence, Worcester. Enlisted and 
mustered into the U.S. service in Co. D, 15th Mass. Infantry, July 12, 
1861 ; discharged for disability, no date given. Enlisted and mustered 

as Sergeant Co. C, 57th Mass. Infantry, — 1864 ; 2d Lieutenant, June 

12, 1865; mustered out, by expiratiou of service, July 30, 1865. Resi- 
dence, recent date, Worcester, Mass. 

CHARLES F. SHERMAN. 2d Lieutenant, age 29; residence, Salem. En- 
listed and mustered in 59th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 5, 1864; transferred to 
Co. B, 57th Mass. Infantry, as 1st Sergeant, June 1, 1865; 2d Lieutenant 
57th, June 12, 1865; mustered out, by expiratiou of service, July 30, 
1865. Record of service prior to Jan. 5, 1864, unknown. Latest resi- 
dence known, 21 Perkins St., Charlestown, Mass. 

WILLIAM S. SARGENT, 2d Lieutenant, age 21 ; residence, Boston. Enlisted 
and mustered in 59th Mass. Iufantry, April 2, 1864; transferred as 1st 
Sergeant to Co B, 57th Mass Infantry, June 1, 1865; 2d Lieutenant, 
June 12, 1865; mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 186.3. 
Record of service prior to April 2, 1865, unknown. Recent address, U.S. 
Sub. Treasury, Boston, Mass. 

HENRY F. FLETCHER, 2d Lieutenant, age 22; residence, Westford. En- 
listed in 59th Mass. Infantry ; transferred to 57th Mass. 

Infantry. June 1, 1865; 2d Lieutenant, June 12, 1865; mustered out, by 
expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Service, if any, prior to enlistment 
in 59th regiment, unknown. Record and residence since muster out, 
unknown. 

CHARLES H. SARGENT, 2d Lieutenant, age 27; residence, Stow. Mus- 
tered in 59th Mass. Infantry, Jan. 5, 1864; transferred as Sergeant to 
Co. B, 57th Mass. Infantry, June 1, 1865; 2d Lieutenant, June 12, 1865; 
mustered out, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Becord of service, 
if any, prior to January 5, 1865, unknown. Record and residence since 
muster out, unknown. 



NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 



SAMUEL BAXTER, Sergeant-Major, age 35 ; residence, Boston. Mustered 
Feb. 4, 1864: discharged, by expiration of service, July 30, 1865; trans- 
ferred from 59th, June 1, 1865. Present address unknown. 

JAMES A. ROBBINS, Quartermaster-Sergeant, age 22; residence, Water- 
town. Mustered Feb. 18, 1864, as Private Co. E; discharged as 
Quartermaster-Sergeant, expiration of service, July 30, 1865. Recent 
address, Chicago, 111. 



430 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUN TEERS. 



WM. H. H. ALDRIDGE, Commissary Sergeant, aye 21 ; residence, Melrose. 
Mustered Feb. 20, 1864 : discharged, by expiration of service, July 30, 
186">; transferred from 59th June 1, 1865. Present address, unknown. 

DAVID F. LAWRY, Commissary Sergeant, age 26; residence, "Worcester. 
Mustered Jan. 11, 1864; discharged as supernumerary, May 26, 1865. 
Death reported at reunion of 1873. 

HENRY G. PROUT, Hospital Steward, age 18; residence, Great Barrington. 
Mustered Jan. 25, 1864, Co. D, 57th; discharged, by expiration of 
service, July 30, 1865. Present address, unknown. 

CHARLES FOSTER, Principal Musician, age 28; residence, Waltham. 
Mustered Feb 4, 1864; transferred from 59th, per paragraph 43, 
Special Order 254, "War Department, May 25, 1865 ; discharged, by ex- 
piration of service, August 10, 1865. 

WM. R. NICHOLS. Principal Musician, age 43; residence, Reading. Mus- 
tered Jan. 14, 1864; discharged, by expiration of service, July 3o, 1865; 
transferred from 59th, June 1, 1865 Death reported, date unknown. 

JESSE S. SCOTT, Principal Musician, age 22 ; residence, Leicester. Mus- 
tered Jan. 4. 1864; discharged as supernumerary, May 26, 1865; 
previous service, enlisted in Co. B, 3d Battalion Mass. Rifles, May 19, 
1861 ; discharged Aug. 13, 1861. Musician, Band 21st Mass., enlisted 
August 23, 1861; discharged Aug. 11. 1862; enlisted as Musician Co. B, 
57th, December. 1863. Died in Leicester, Mass., Sept. 28, 1892. 



KNLISTKl) MEN. 



COMPANY A. 

Nelson, Dexter C, 1st Sergt. : age L9, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; 
dis. a< supernumerary June 16, '65; pros, address, Soldiers' Rome, Chel- 
sea, Mass. 

O'Donnell. John. 1st Sergt. : age 23, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64 : dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, Mass. 

Wilson, William H.. lsi Sergt. : age L'o, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; 
killed at Wilderness, \'a . May 6, '64; veteran LSth Mass. inf. 

Cooley, John J., Sergt.: age 86, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at 
Petersburg, Va., June 1 7, '64 . 

Druitt, William, Sergt.: age 25, res. Southbridge, mustered April 6,'64; dis. 
ex. of service July 80, '65; record ami address since, unknown. 

Hopkinson, Lowell H.. Sergt.: age 27, res. Grov eland, mustered Dec. 5, '68 ; 

dis. ex. of service July 80, '66; Hans, from 59th June 1. V.,". : recent 
address, ( lp>\ eland, MaSS. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 431 

Parks, George H., Sergt. : age 19, res. Winchendon, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died 
at Annapolis, Md., Sept. 19, '64. 

Wilson, Hugh A., Sergt.: age 18, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. 
order War Dept. July 20, '65; recent address, Great Bend, Barton 
County, Kansas. 

Allen, Albert S., Corp. : age 36, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. June 24, '65. ; death reported in '95. 

Berry, William W., Corp. : age 20, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. 
of service, absent, July 30, '65; since unknown. 

Crampsey, John, Corp. : age 18, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order 
War Dept. June 20, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, 
Beverly, Mass. 

Gorman, John, Corp. : age 18, res. Salem, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order War 
Dept. June 20, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; recent address, Boston, 
Mass. 

Hayes, James, Corp. : age 26, res. Charlestowu, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. 
of service June 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Kelliher, John, Corp. : age 29, res. Marlborough, mustered Dec. 5, '63 ; dis. disa- 
bility June 29, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Mills, John S., Corp. : age 22, res. Rutland, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died at Annap- 
olis, Md., April 15, '65, of wounds received in action. 

Perkins, Walter G., Corp. : age 22, res. Reading, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address un- 
known. 

Walker, William R., Corp. : age 22, res. Douglas, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disa- 
bility March 1, '65; record and address since, unknown. 

Darling. William H., Mus. : age 18, res. Clinton, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept., Aug. 8, '65; deserted from camp near Tennallytown. D.C., 
June 30, '65; voluntarily reported to company commander at Readville, 
Mass., Aug. 3, '65, and discharged to date Aug. 8, '65: record and 
address since, unknown. 

Sweeney, James, Mus. : age 16, res. Roxbury, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address un- 
known. 

Aldrich, William A. : age 20, res. Upton, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
Feb. 15, '65 ; address previous to '94, Westboro, Mass. 

Alexander, Isaac : age 26, res. Ware, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted Feb. 1, '64; 
record and address since, unknown. 

Ballou, Hiram K. : age 38, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 4. '64; transferred to 
V.R.C. Jan. 29, '65; dis. Nov. 20, '65; record and address since, 
iinknown. 



432 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Bartlett, Ebenezer A. : age 46, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, 'G4 ; (lis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 10, '05; died April 4, '9*4. 

Barrett, Thomas : age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; record aud address since, unknown. 

Bassett, Uriah: age 18, res. Holden, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Weldon 
R.R., Va., Aug. 19, '64. 

Beals, Isaiah, age 31, res. Westborough, mustei'ed Dec. 5, '63 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; present address unknown. 

Bedreaux. Alexander: age 24, res. Brookfield, mustered Jan. 4, '64; wounded 
May 12 and Aug. 19, '64; pris. of war Mar. 25, '65: dis. June 8, '65, per 
S.O. No. 77, A.G.O., '65, as Budrow ; present address unknown. 

Beltran, Gusta : age 18, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. July 17, '65 ; record and address since, unknown. 

Benon, George: age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 25, '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent wounded, July 30, '65: no later record. 

Bennett. Nathan C. : age 24, res. Marlborough, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Bessey, Seth : a^e 39, res. Reading, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, 'G5; traus. from 59th June 1, '65; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Birmingham, Patrick : age 27, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice Jul} r 30, '65; record and address since, unknown. 

Boyle, George : age .'57, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 25, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; must, out on Independent M.O. Roll as of Co. G. 59th, May 
15, '65; correel name .lames ('. Boyle (War Dept. Records): Sever 
served in 57th; no other in formal ion. 

Bragg. Andrew: age 19, res. Maiden, mustered Dec. .">, '63; dis. ex. of service 

July .'In. '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; present address unknown. 

Brown, Edwin C. : age 1M, res. Chaiiestown. mustered Dec..". '63; dis. order 
War Dept. July 18, '6.".: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; present address 

unknown. 

Broad. Lyman : aire 28, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. I. '64; killed at Peebles 
Farm. Va., Sept. 30, '64. 

Bryan, John B. : age 23, re-. Auburn, mustered Jan. I, '64 ; deserted Feb. l,'64; 
no ot her record know n. 

Burnham, Otis : age 18, re-. Beverly, mustered Die •">. '•'>:'>; dis. e\. of service 
July 80, '65; trans, from 59th June I, '65; recent address, Beverly, 
Mass. 

Callihan. Robert: age 22, res. Milford. mustered Jan. I. '64; died at Anderson- 
\ ill.-. Ga., July L8, '64. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 433 



Casey, Matthew: age 35, res. Brookline, mustered Feb. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th as absent, missing, May 4, '64. "War 
Dept. records show that this man died in Aug., 1864,'while a prisoner of 
war, at Andersonville, Ga. ; reported as transrtoCo. B, 57th, June 1, '65. 

Cater, Silas N. : age 18, res. "Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Chase, John R. : age 18, res. Salem, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order "War Dept. 
Aug. 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Clanguin, Augustus: age 39, res. Cheshire, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; record and address since, unknown. 

Coderre, Louis C. E : age 21, res. Ashburnham, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted 
Apr. 1, '64; no record of bounty, address unknown. 

Collins, James : age 30, res. South Reading, mustered Dec. 5, '63 ; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, Stone- 
ham, Mass. 

Cook, Silas N. : age 29, res. Warren, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; killed at Petersburg, 
Va., June 17, '64. 

Coombs. Thomas W. : age 42, res. South Reading, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; ti'ans. from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Copeland. John : age 23, res. "Westborough, .mustered April 6, '64 : died at 
Andersonville, Ga., Oct. 19, '64; no. of grave 11,174. 

Davis, John: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability May 
16, '65; recent address, Worcester, Mass. 

Delaski, Albert: age 21, res. Lynn, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Delaney, Michael: age 25, res. Fitchburg, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted Feb. 
21. '64: no other record. 

Delaney, Patrick : age 45, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65 ; record and address since, unknown. 

Delano. Reuben: age 23, res. Westborough, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th as absent, July 30, '65 ; 
final record appears as that of a deserter from Co. A, 59th; no later in- 
formation. (War Dept.) 

Dickey, Charles H. : age 28, res. Lowell, mustered Dec. 5, '63; ex. of service 
absent, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th, as absent, June 1, '65; died at 
Mason Gen. Hosp., Boston, Mass., as of Co. A, 59th, May 21, '64 (War 
Dept. Records). 

Dillon, Patrick: age 45, res Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Spottsyl- 
vania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Dodge, Daniel D. : age 28, res. Stoneham, mustered Feb. 26, '64: dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Doherty. Patrick: age 18, res. Milford, mustered Aug. 26, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 16, '65; pres. address unknown. 

28 



434 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Dolan, William H. : age 21, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; pres. address, North Leominster, Mass. 

Doyle, Owen: age 34, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability May 
13, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Dudley, Charles F. : age 25, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. July 12, 
'65, on account of wounds received in action, veteran companies D and 
C, 4'Jth Mass; recent address, Pittsfleld, Mass. 

Dudley, Lyman: age 21, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Aug. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept., June 16, '65; pres. res. Pittsfleld. 

Duffey, Patrick: age 22, res. Boston, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service, 
absent, July 30, '65 ; no later record. 

Ellard, John: age 25, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted June 2, '64; 
no later record. 

Flamsburg, Stephen: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64: deserted 
Sept. 15, '64; no later record. 

Flint, Henry C. : age 43, res. North Reading, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65: died, date unknown. 

Flynn, Patrick: age 26, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent, July 30, '65; no later record. 

Flynn. Daniel : age 24, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4. '64: killed at Petersburg, 
Va., June 17, '64. 

Foster, Albert C. : age 18, res. Rutland, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, 'Go-, pres. address, 1624 South 33d St., Omaha, Neb. 

Foster, George W. : age 20, res. Rutland, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; pres. address, Warren, Mass. 

Fregean, John : age 22, res. Ashburnham, mustered Jan. 4, 'CI ; died at Alexan- 
dria, Va., May 30, '64, from wounds received in action. 

Geaghan. John: age 44, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent, .July 30, '65; no later record. 

Gearetin, Louis: a^e 19, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 23, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; deserted July 29, '64, as of Co. G, 59th, from McClellau Gen. 
Hospital, Phila., l'eim., no record of return. 

Gendron, John: age 18, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
July 26, '64 : pres. address unknown. 

Gerry, Thomas L. : aire 41, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. I, '64 : dis. order War 
Dept. July 6, '65; [ires, address. Sterling, Mass. 

Gillin, Michael: age 83, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '6 I . 

Gleason, Charles f. age 29, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at 
Philadelphia, Pa., July 24, '64. 

Gloucester, Thomas: age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. t, '64; deserted 

while on CurlOUgh A.Ug. I. '6! (record War Dept.); no later information. 



ROSTER — EXUSTED MEN. 435 

Goette, Peter: age 18, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted Sept. 

14, '64 (record confirmed by War Dept.) ; nothing of later date. 

Green, Henry H. : age 29, res. Stoneham, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, 'Go; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Griffin, John: age 37, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability, Oct. 

15, '64; pres. address, Milford, Mass. 

Grimes, Warren : age 21, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; death reported in '81. 

Grush, Charles H. : age 18, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. disability 
May 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hartwell, Hiram: age 28, res. Boston, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. disability 
May 25, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Helms, Carlos A. : age 36, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pris. of war 
since July 30, '64. Investigation at War Dept. fails to elicit further 
information; never joined the 57th; no record of return after close of 
the war. 

Heveron, Patrick: age 26, res. Lanesborough, mustered April 6, '64; died in 
hospital at Washington, D.C., June 1, '64. 

Heyton, Anthony: age 26, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '64; trans, to V.R.C. 
Feb. 15, '65 ; dis. by order of War Dept. Aug. 3, '65 ; recent address, 
East Princeton, Mass. 

Higgins, Timothy : age 33, res. Clinton, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; trans, to V.R.C. ; 
dis. by order War Dept. Feb. 25, '65; recent address, Boylston, Mass. 

Hill, George B. : age 18, res. Lynn, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hodge, John : age 36, res. Dedham, mustered Feb. 20, '64; died at Petersburg, 
Va., July 30, '64; never joined the 57th by transfer from 59th. 

Howarth, James: age 32, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
Jan. 17, '64 (disability resulting from wounds rec'd in action) ; pres. 
address, Webster, Mass. 

Hull, Lavell F. : age 27, res. Westfleld, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died at Danville, 
Va., Nov. 207 '64 (died of starvation) ; Vet. of Co. E, 27th Mass. 

Jameson, William H. : age 21, res. Wayland, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order 
War Dept. June 20, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; remote address, 
Wayland, Mass. 

Jordan, John: age 24, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order War Dept. 
June 14, '65; recent address, Revere House, Boston, Mass. 

Joseph, Doriet F. : age 26, res. Maiden, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent, July 30, '65; deserted Aug. 11, '64; no record of return; 
never joined 57th by transfer from 59th. 

Joslin, Philemon C. : age 38, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disa- 
bility Oct. 15, '64; pres. address unknown. 



436 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Kelly. Thomas: age 40, res. Westfield, mustered Jan. 4, '64: killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Landon, Dennis: age 22, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lang, Lewis: age 19, res. Roxbury, mustered Dec. 5, '63: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, Reading, Mass. 

Lawson. George: age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted May 
6, '64 ; the above is shown by records in Adjutant-General's office, Boston, 
but as that was the day the 57th lost so heavily in the Wilderness, this 
man may have been killed or taken prisoner: no later information. 

Lee, William S. : age 19; res. Salem, mustered Dec. 5, '63; .dis. order War 
Dept., Aug. 10, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; recent address, Worces- 
ter, Ma<s. 

Lee. William S. : age 36, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; no later information. 

Locke. Francis : age 21, res. Ware, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted Feb. 11. '64; 
no later information. 

Maghnie, Daniel : age 34, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; killed at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Maher. Martin: age 38, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Maloney, James: age 19, res. Maiden, mustered Dec. 5, "63: dis. order War 
Dept., July 20, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Mara, Thomas : aa;e 28, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4. '64 ; furloughed from 
Gen. Eosp., Brattleboro, Vt., Aug. 25, '64; deserted Oct. 12, '64; QO later 
information. 

Martin, Edward: age 35. res. Lynn, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65: pres. address unknown. 

Martin. William G. : age 23. res. Mi I ford, mustered March 11. '64; dis. order 
War Dept. July I. '64; pres. address unknown. 

Maynard. George W. : age 18, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '61 ; missing May 
r,, '64; not heard from since: probably killed in battle. 

Maynard, William : age 18, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '64; missing May 
6, '64; War Dept. records show that he was killed in battle. 

McDermott, Matthew : age 21, its. Boston, mustered Dee. 5,'63; di-. ex. of 
Bervice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June l, '65, Vet Co. 1, 18th Mass.; 
pres. address unknown. 

McDonald, Daniel: age 28, res. Mil ford, mustered Jan. I. '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Merrill. Charles O. : age ii. res. New buryport . mustered Dec. '<■ '68 J dis. ex. of 
Bervice July 80, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 437 



Moore, Joseph M. : age 31, res. Wayland, mustered March 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. July 15, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Mooher, William : age 25, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Morrill, Charles L. : age 19, res. Haverhill, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 8, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Morris, Michael: age 20, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at Ander- 
sonville, Ga., Oct. 16, '64 (chronic diarrhoea). 

Mullcott, Adolphus : age 22, res. Melrose, mustered Dec. 5, '63; admitted to 
Gen. Hosp. at Keadville, Mass., Aug. 6, '64, with chronic diarrhoea; 
no record of discharge. 

Mullens, Alfred M. : age 24, res. Boston, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. order War 
Dept. Aug. 22, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Murphy, Cornelius : age 18, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64: killed at Peters- 
burg, Va., June 17, '64. 

Murphy, Patrick: age 33, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Neland, Nathaniel F. : age 24, res. Georgetown, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Neville, William : age 44, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

O'Clair, Peter: age 22, res. Pittsfleld, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent, July 30, '65; deserted from Turner's Lane, Gen. Hosp., 
Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 8, '64; pres. address unknown. 

O'Conner, Daniel: age 27, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed in 
battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 12, '64. (Rec. War Dept.) 

O'Conners, David : age 33, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; killed at Spottsyl- 
vania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Parker, Charles H. : age 18, res. Boston, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; address unknown. 

Parks, William : age 27, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; deserted Jan. 5, '64, arrested July 6, '64; sent to regt. July 
21, "'64; tried and sentenced by G.C.M., but must, out with Co., Vet. Co. 
I, 27th Mass. 

Paul, Charles: age 44, res. Holden, mustered Jan. 4, '64; trans, to V.R.C. ; 
dis. Sept. 15, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Petty, Adam : age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4. '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent, July 30, '65; deserted from Gen. Hosp. at Keadville, Mass., Dec. 
14, '64; no later information. 

Phillips. James: age 22, res. Lynn, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. residence unknown. 



438 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Porter. Adolphus : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
April 11, '65: pres. address unknown. 

Porter, Alfred F. : age 18, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4, '64: died at 
Worcester, Mass., April 22, '65. 

Ray, Asa M. : age 37, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Reade. John: age 39, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability March 
22. '64; pres address unknown. 

Richell, Louis: age 28, res. Brookfleld, mustered Jan. 4, '64; missing May 
6, '64. War Dept. has no other information (probably killed in battle). 

Rice. William H. : age 22, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. disa- 
bility, April 24, '64 ; pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Rivod, Moses: age 18, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed at Spottsyl- 
vania, Va., May 12. '64. 

Roades. Theodore H. : age 24, res. Charlestown, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. 
order War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. 
address unknown. 

Roe, George S. : age 27, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5. '63; dis. disability 
June 9, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pies, address unknown 

Roper, William J. : age 18, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Rugg. Charles H. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 1. '64; missing May 

6, '64. No later information; probably killed in battle of Wilderness. 

Sawtelle, Henry A.: age 19, res. Shrewsbury, mustered Jan. 4. '64; died of 
wounds, at Annapolis. Md., June 17, '64. 

Seaver, Roswell R. : age 18. res. Eolden, mustered Jan. 4, '61: missing May 
6, '64; dis. for disability July 13, '64; re-enlisted in Co. C, 25th Mass., 
Jan. 11, '65; dis. July 1.'!. '65: pres. address unknown. 

Shaughnessy, Michael: age 25, res. .Milford, mustered Jan. 1, '61: killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Smith, Alfred : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 1, '64; dis ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pre-, address unknown. 

Smith. Eli: age 26, res. Ware, mustered Jan. I. CI: descried Jan. 20, '64; 
bounty jumper: no later Information. 

Swain. John H. : age 18, res. Lynn, mustered Dee. 5, '63; dis. ex. Of service 
Jul] 30 66 trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Sweetser, Joseph E. : age I*, res. Barre, mustered Jan. I. v,| ; died of wounds, 
:ii Salisbury, N.('., Oct. 80, '64, while prisoner of war. 

Tappan. Francis : age 28, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, 'Q4 \ dis. order War 
Dept. June 27, '66; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 439 

Taylor, George A.: age 18, res. Franklin, mustered Aug. 10, '64 ; dis. order 
War Dept. June 16, '65; enlisted for one year; pres. address unknown. 

Teague, John: age 26, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 15, '65; died July 1, 'SI. 

Trussell, Augustus J. : age 25, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 20, '65 ; death reported at reunion, '83. 

Tulley, John: age 39, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died of wounds, at 
Alexandria, Va., May 18, '65. 

Vaughn, Bartholomew: age 41, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 30, '65 ; War Dept. records show that he deserted 
from Emory Gen. Hosp., Washington, Nov. 30, '64 ; no later information. 

Walsh. James : age 40, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. on Surg. Certf. 
disability Sept. 12, '65 ; no later information. 

Warren, Albert C. : age 18, res. Upton, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted May 
4, '64 ; bounty jumper ; no later information. 

Warren, Hosea : age 41, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at Danville, 
Va., Oct, 1, '64. 

White, William S. : age 22, res. Ashburnham, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Wilson, Ebenezer L. : age 18, res. Beverly, mustered Dec. 5, '63; dis. disability 
July 7, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; death reported, no date. 



COMPANY B. 

Magner. William, 1st Sergt. : age 19, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Westboro, Mass. 

Souther, Samuel, 1st Sergt. : age 44, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; killed 
May 6, '64, in battle of Wilderness. 

Boardman, Ambrose A., Sergt. : age 18, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64, 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '6l>; pres. 
address unknown. 

Flagg, Henry C, Sergt. : age 21, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. 
supernumerary June 13, '65; pres. address, Lindley, Mo. 

Forbes, Willis A., Sergt. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; (lis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65 ; death reported at regt'l reunion of '95. 

Freeman, James B., Sergt. : age 30, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; miss- 
ing May 6, '64 ; no later information ; probably killed in battle of Wilder- 
ness. 

Joan, Antonio, Sergt. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Medfield, Mass. 

McCarty, Daniel, Sergt. : age 22, res. Westborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; recent address, Soldiers' Home, Togus, Me. 



440 



FI1TY-SEVKNTII REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Wetherby. Harlan F., Sergt. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; 
(lis. ex. of service July 30, '65; latest address, Grove City, Pa. 

Simons. Daniel J., Sergt.: age 27, res. Wilbraham, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. 
disability, May 9, '64, by order of General Auger; pres. address, Win- 
sted, Conn. 

Bemis, Ezra C. Corp. : age 38, res. Xorthborongh. mustered Jan. 4. '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65 ; death reported in 1874. 

Callan. Andrew, Corp. : age 41, res. West Cambridge, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Chapin, David N., Corp. : age 25, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. 
.July 7, '64, order General Auger; died Nov. 5, '79. 

Crowe, Patrick, Corp.: age 23, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4. '64: dis. 
ex. of service July 30, "GH; pres. address unknown. 

Dayton, Benjamin F.. Corp. : res. Auburn, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. disability 
Dec. 27, '64: pres. address unknown. 

Fred, John, Corp. : age 29, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Fuller. J. Henry, Corp. : age 21, res. "Worcester, mustered Jan. 4. '64 ; missing 
May • ',, '64: probably killed: letters from War Dept. dated Feb. 1, '78 
and June 4, '94, give no later information. 

Hall, Josiah B., Corp.: age 21, res. Holland, mustered Jan. 4, '64: trans, to 
Co. A. lUli V.R.C.,Sept. 2.",. '64: dis. as Serfft. for disability Jan. 21. '65 
(wound received in action): pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Howard. Daniel H.. Corp.: age 22. res. N. Brooklield, mustered .Tan. 5. '64; 
dis. ex. <>f service, absent wounded, .Inly 30, '<:"> : no later information. 

Jackson, Henry M.. Corp. : age 21, res. X. Bridgewater, mustered .Ian. 5, '64 ; 
dis. disability June '■'■■ '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Midgely, John, Corp.: age 34, res. Worcester, mustered .Ian. 4, '64; dis. dis- 
ability Oct. :'.o, '65; pres. address, Cherry Valley, Mass. 

Parmer, John T., Corp. : age 18, res. Northborough, mustered Jan. 1. '64 ; di- 
es. <if sen ice .Inly :;n. V.5 ; pres. address unknown, 

Rogers. Henry M., Corp.: age 18, res. Beverly, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June l. '65; recent address, 
r.i\ erlj , Mass. 

Bessey, George E.. Mus. ; age L6, res. Reading, mustered Jan. 5, '64 ; dis. ex. of 
service Julj 30, '65; trans, from 59th June i. '65; recent address, Bead- 
ing, Mass. 

Hunt. John E., Mus. : age 19, res. N. Bridgewater, mustered Jan. 5, '64 ; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65 ; 1 1 .ins. from 59th June 1. '65; recent address, 
Brockton. M.-is-. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 4:41 



Smith, Eugene, Mus. : age 19, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; death reported at reunion of '93. 

Adams, Daniel V. : age 18, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; recent address, Oxford, Mass. 

Adams, Loring J.: age 20, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
Nov. 26, '64, at Philadelphia, Pa. ; pres. address, Oxford, Mass. 

Augland, Thomas: age 22, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 3, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Austin, Caleb S. : age 38, res. Northborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. May 24, '65 ; pres. address, Wilkinsonville, Mass. 

Babbitt, Benj. F. : age 43, res. Lowell, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. disability 
June 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Ballou, George S. : age 25, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 8. '65; died, date unknown. 

Bates. William: age 37, res. N. Brookfleld, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at Cul- 
pepper C.H., Va., June 7, '64; Roll of Honor, vol. 7, page 117. 

Bemis, Adelbert W. : age 20, res. Northborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at 
Andersonville, Ga., Sept. 11, '64. 

Black, Henry E. : age 18, res. Holden, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died at Alexandria, 
Va., Feb. 22, v 65. 

Bradley, John: age 40, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65^; died Dec. 23, '71. 

Brewer, Warren E. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. order 
War Dept. June 14, '65; death reported in 71. 

Brigham, Albert: age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. order 
War Dept. June 10, '65; died July 10, '87. 

Brigham, Calvin L. : age 19, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. June 26, '65; wounded June 21, '64; pres. address, 113 West 
St., Clinton, Mass. 

Brigham, Charles L. : age 36, res. N. Brookfleld, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died of 
wounds June 22, '64. 

Brigdall, James : age 44, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; rejected recruit 
and dis. June 29, '64. 

Brothers, Jesse : age 42, res. Dorchester, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, "'65; trans, from 59th; pres. address unknown. 

Bryant. Amasa : age 22, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent wounded, July 30, 'Go; Veteran Co. E, 6th Vt. ; no later 
record. 

Buckley, Jerry : age 32, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died at Baltimore, 
Md., Feb. 8, '65. 



442 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Bullard. Francis W. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '04: dis. 
disability Nov. 23. '65; loss of leg battle of Wilderness; pres. address. 
Westboro, Mass. 

Burke, David: age 2-i, res. Lawrence, mustered Jan. 5, '04: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Burke, James: age 30, res. Brimrield, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65: pres. address unknown. 

Burke. Thomas: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64: killed at North 
Anna River, Va., May 24, '64. 

Callahan, Jeremiah: age 30, res. Northbridge, mustered Jan. 11, '64: died at 
Andersonville, Ga., Aug. 29, '64. 

Cheeney. Charles E. : a<re 21, res. Roxbury. mustered Jan. 5, '61 ; dis, ex. of ser- 
vice, absent, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Clark. Robert: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address, Tolland, Conn. 

Clark. William H. : age 19, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. disability 
Dec. 29, '64; died Jan. 2, '90. 

Crook, Peter: age 36, res. Wilmington, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '05 ; trans, from 59th June 1 , '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Crowley. Patrick : age 26, res. North Brookfield, mustered Jan. 5, '64 : dis. disa- 
bility May 20, '65; trans, from 59th June 1,'65; pres. address unknown. 

Culver. Charles E. : age 22, res. Otis, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '05; pres. address, Naugatuck, Conn. 

Curtis. Alonzo : aire 35, res. Salem, mustered Oct. 1, '64: dis. ex. of service 

July 30. '05; trans, from 59th June 1, '05; pres. address unknown. 

Dodge, Lewis N. : aire 21, res. Roxbury. mustered Oct. 21, '04: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '0,5; pres. address unknown. 

Dolan. John : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. I. oi ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; recent address, Worcester, Mass. 

Donahue, John: aire 30, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 1, '01 ; dis. order War 
Dept. June 13, '''•■"> : died March 15, '67. 

Elliott, Albert L. s. : age L8, res. Beverly, mustered Jan. :., '64: dis. ex. ..r ser- 
\ ice, absenl sick, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June l. '65; no later 
informal ion. 

Fleming. Michael: age L8, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. I. '0 1 : dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, wounded, July 30, '65; pres. address. Worcester, Mass. 

Fozzman. August : age 84, res. Maiden, mustered .Ian. 5, 'o.i : dis. ex. <>r service 

. 1 1 1 1 \ 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address. Soldiers' Home, 
( 'llelsea. Ma88. 

Gerry, Albert S. : age 27, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. I, Y,| : dis. ex. of service 
Julj 80, '65; pres. address, Millbury, Mass., or Soldiers' Home. Togus, 
Me. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 443 

Goodnow Hiram M : age 21, res. Hubbardston, mustered Jan. 4, '64- rejected 
and discharged recruit June 29, '64 ; pres. address unknown. J 

Gordon, William: age 22, res. Cambridge, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown 

GraV£ at me^,^,^.?^S h ^: m " Stered Ja "- »• ' 64 i ** °* -unds, 

Green Myron p.: age 18 res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. May 11, '65; pres. address, Golden Gate, Cal. 

Halpin T, 1 H a on h ° ( 1 ° m r : ^ 3<i ' ^ V Melrose, mustered Jan. 5, '64 ; dis. disability 
Julj 20, Go; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hanson, John A. : age 29, res. Bradford, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex of ser- 
vice, absent wounded, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; on 
later information. ' 

Harkins, John: age 28, res. Stoiieham, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis ex of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; no later 
information. 

Hart, John A .; age 19, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died of wounds 
at Y\ ashington, D.C., May 26, '64. 

Hayden, Henry C. : age 18, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died of wounds 
at Annapolis, Md., July 4, '64. 

Heintzleman, J. W. C. : age 39, res. Auburn, mustered Jan. 4, "64: dis disa- 
bility Dec. 23, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Herrick, George L. : age 19, res. Stow, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. July 11, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; recent address, South- 
boro, Mass. 

Hill, Franklin: age 21, res. Barre, mustered Jan. 4, '64; deserted Jan. 4, '64- 
pres. address unknown. 

Hinds. Simon D. : age 21, res. Haverhill, mustered Jan. 5, '64: reported trans 
from 59th June 1, '65; was admitted to Lowell Gen. Hosp., Portsmouth 
Grove, R.I., May 20, '64; deserted July 17, '64; returned Aug. 17, '64 
and deserted again Oct. 28, '64; no record of return; this is the War 
Dept. record ; no later information. 

Holland, James H. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 2, '65 ; death reported in '75. 

tfooley, Daniel: age 35, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; died at David's 
IsL, N.Y.H., Aug. 10, '64. 

3ood, George F. : age IS, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; died at Annapo- 
lis, Md., July 2, '64. 

toward, Timothy: age 26, res. North Brookrield, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. 
of service, absent sick, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; no later 
information. 

Hubbard, George R. : age 41, res. Paxton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; died of wounds 
July 27, '64. 



444 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Ingalls. John D. : ase 38, res. CharlestoAvn. mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '05 ; pres. address unknown. 

Inman, George J. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '04 : dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Johnson, William A. : ase 20, res. Melrose, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '05; trans, from 59th June 1, '05; pres. address unknown. 

Kiely, Martin: age 32, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '04; missing July 
30, '64; died in rebel prison at Danville, Va., Jan. 6, '05. 

King, Simeon E. : age 19, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 4, '04; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address, W. Millbury, Mass. 

Kirkup, Charles A.: age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 11, '04; trans. 
to 17th Co., 2d Batt., Veteran Reserve Corps, Jan. 25, '65, and dis. on 
surgeon's certificate of disability (wounds received in action) Aug. 10, 
'05; residence since, unknown. 

Kneeland, Levi : age 18, res. Newburyport, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Langdon, Milo T. : age 39, res. Otis, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Leary, John: ase 34, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '04; died of wounds at 
Petersburg, Va., June 17, '04. 

Leonard, Benjamin L. : age 30, res. Rutland, mustered Jan. 11. '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '05; died at Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, Jan. 17. '96. 

Lines, Dennis: age 45, res. Milford, mustered Jan. I, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 28, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Love, John: ai» r e 21, res. Salisbury, mustered Jan. 5, '04: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, "65; recent address, Spencer, Mass. 

Lowell, Edward: age 18, res. Northborough, mustered Jan. 4, '04; dis ex. of 
service July 30, '65; died, dale unknown. 

Luther. Nathan J. : age 19, res. Fitchburg, mustered A.ug. 10, '64 \ dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lynch. Bernard: a^e 37, res. Northbridge, mustered Jan. I. *64; deserted Jan. 
30, 'oi ; pres. address unknot n. 

Lyons. Patrick : age '-'7. res. Worcester, mustered Jan. I, oi ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; died March L, '• , '-'. 

Mahan, Patrick : age 35, res. Milford. mustered Jan. 4, '64; rejected and dis. 
recruil June 29, '64 ; pre-, address unknown. 

Marah. Michael : age 21, its Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. May Ll, '65; pres. address unknown. 

May, John E. : age 18, res. Holden, mustered Jan. t, '64; dis ex of Bervice 
July 80, '65; pres. address, 288 Maple St., Lynn, Mass 



ENLISTED MEN. 445 



McBride. John : age 24, res. Lowell, mustered Jan. 5, '64; reported trans, from 
59th to Co. B, 57th, June 1, '05, as absent sick, but the transfer seems not 
to have been carried iuto effect; War Dept. Record shows that he was 
trans, to Co. I, 20th Veteran Reserve Corps, April 14, '65; dis. June 10, 
'65, on surgeon's certificate of disability; resideuce since, unknown. 

McCarty, Cornelius: age 27, res. North Brookfield, mustered Jan. 5, '64 ; re- 
ported trans, from 59th to Co. B, 57th, June 1, '65, as absent wounded, 
but the transfer was not carried into effect as he was trans, to Co. I, 
20th Veteran Reserve Corps, and dis. June 20, '65, on surgeon's certificate 
of disability, as of Co. B, 59th (records War Dept.) Tresidence since, 
unknown. 

McDonald. Henry: age 19, res. West Roxbury, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

McDonough, Patrick: age 20, res. Lee, mustered Jan. 4, '64; rejected recruit 
and dis. June 29, '64 : pres. address unknown. 

Merrill, David: age 30, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64; reported trans, 
from 59th to Co. B, 57th, June 1, '65, but never joined 57th. Records 
of War Dept. show that he was admitted to Gen. Hosp., Fairfax Semi- 
nary, Va., May 4, '64, from field, with chronic rheumatism ; trans. May 6, 
'64, and admitted to Satterlee Gen. Hosp., Philadelphia, Pa., May 7, '64, 
with chronic diarrhoea, and deserted May 9, '64; no later record. 

Moore, Lewis : age 44, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; killed May 6, '64. 

Moore, William A. : age 18, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; died March 5, '81. 

Murray. John: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; recent address, 137 Cambridge St., Boston, Mass. 

Nealy, Ephraim E. : age 43, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. May 22, '65 ; pres. address, Shrewsbury, Mass. 

Newton, Amos P.: age 20, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; missing May 
24, '64; later reports show him to have been killed in battle of North 
Anna River, May 24, '64. 

Newton, Charles H. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64, dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; pres. address, No. 8 Francis St., Worcester, Mass. 

O'Connor, James: age 42, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64: rejected 
recruit, and dis. June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

O'Connor, Patrick: age 18, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

O'Kane, Edward: age 35, res. Pepperell, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice in confinement, July 30, '65 (for desertion) ; no later information. 

O'Malley, James : age 27, res. South Danvers, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Paddock. Charles F. : age 18, res. Holden, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
May 30, '65 ; recent address, Uxbridge, Mass. 



446 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Parsons, John A. : age 37, res. Otis, mustered Jan. 4, '64; rejected recruit and 
dis. June 29, '04; pres. address unknown. 

Pattee, John F. : age 22, res. Marlboro, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July ;'.0, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Peirce, Royal S. : age 44, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; died May 31, '71. 

Phillips, Antonio : aire 44, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64; missing May 6, '64. 
(Prisoner of war and died in hands of enemy.) 

Pollock, Joseph : age 26, res. Charlestown. mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th; pres. address unknown. 

Porter. George H. : age 25, res.fReading, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Randall, Charles T. ; age 27, res. Uxbridge, mustered April 6, '64: trans, to 
V.R.C. April 10, "'65, Co. B, 11th Regt; dis. Aug. 8, '65; pres. address, 
Princeton, Mass. 

Rice. Geo. F. : age 20, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Robbins, William: age 36, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 11, '64: missing May 
6, '64; no later information ; probably killed in battle of Wilderness. 

Roland. Louis : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; deserted March 
31, '64 ; no later information. 

Saunders, George : age 30, res. Lawrence, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, "<)5 ;_trans. from 59th June 1, '<>5; pres. address unknown. 

Sawyer. Josiah: age 44, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 4, '64 ; rejected recruit 
and dis. June 29, '64; since reported dead, date unknown. 

Sawyer. Warren W. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4. '64; dis. disa- 
bility Dec. 21, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Sheffield, John A.: age 24, res. Northbridge, mustered Jan. 11. '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Smith. Alpheus M. : age 45. res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 4. '64 : dis. disability 
July 16, '64, orders General Dix; recent address, North Leominster. Mass. 

Smith, Edwin H. : age 36, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 1, '64; trans, to V.R.C. 
and dis. from Co. 15,21th Regt., Aug. 2, '65 ; reported dead, date unknown. 

Squires, Truman: age 18, res. Pelham, mastered Jan. I, '64; killed at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May ir, '64. 

Swan. James S. :*age II, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. I. '64; deserted Feb. 
24, 64; no later Informal Ion. 

Sullivan, Jeremiah : age 21,fres. Marlborough, mustered April 2, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 80, '65; trans, from .".nth June l. '65; pres. address unknown 

Sullivan, Jerry; age II. res. Westfleld, mustered Jan. I, '64; missing July 
80, '64; letter from War Dept., Washington, May 5, '95, gives no 
furl her Information. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 447 



Sullivan, Timothy G. : age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. 
order War Dept. May 11, '65; pres. address, Washington St., Worcester, 
Mass. 

Terrill, Edward: age 45, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 4, '64: missing July 
30, '64 ; no later information ; probably killed in battle. 

Thompson, Robert : age 27, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Thurston, George: age 20, res. Holden, mustered Jau. 4, '64; died of wounds, 
at Washington, D.C., June 3, '64. 

Tobey, John G. : age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. disability 
Oct. 15, '64. Special Order 220, A.G.O. ; appointed Acting Assistant 
Paymaster U.S.N. ; honorably must, out April 19, '66; pres. address, 
88 State St., Boston, Mass. 

Wallingford, Mark F. : age 21, res. Lowell, mustered Sept. 14, '64; dis. ex of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Wallace, Patrick: age 22, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died at Auder- 
sonville, Ga., July 16, '64. 

Warren, Harris C. ; age 18, res. Westborough, mustered Jan. 4, '64: dis. order 
War Dept. May 24, '65; pres. address, Westboro, Mass. 

Ward, Peter: age 25, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent wounded, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Waters, Hugh: age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 4, '64; rejected recruit 
and dis. June 29, '64; died Aug. 6, '84. 

Wilkins, Archibald: age 25, res. Brighton, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown 

Wilson, George: age 27, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 



COMPANY C. 

Howard, Charles, Sergt. : age 23, res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64 
deserted April 1, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Kellog, Charles F., Sergt: age 38, res. Amherst, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis 
ex. of service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no other record ; present address 
Springfield, Mass. 

Knox, Charles F., Sergt. : age 25, res. West Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64 
died of w'ds, at Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. This man was seen by 
Lieut. C. H. Royce, 57th, May 6, '64, lying upon the battlefield of the 
Wilderness with a bullet hole in the forehead, and was, no doubt, in- 
stantly killed. 

Lovejoy, Michael, Sergt. : age 27, res. Sheffield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
May 10, '65; no later information; possibly died in rebel prison. 



448 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Miller, Joseph, Sergt. : age 27, res. South Hadley, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died 
at Andersonville, Ga., Aug. 31, '64. 

Adams, Benjamin. Corp. : age 18, res. Beverly, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. disa- 
bility July 25, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, Vine- 
land", New Jersey. 

Allman Samuel, Corp. : age 23, res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. 18, "64: dis. disa- 
bility March 13, '65; present address unknown. 

Billings. George, Corp.: age 22, res. Chicopee, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, 
to V.R.C. ; no date of transfer or discharge. 

Cheney Frederick S., Corp.: age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. IS, '64; 
killed at Petersburg, Va., March 25, '65, Fort Stedman. 

Dodge, Amos A., Corp. : ase 34, res. Beverly, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Au-. 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; death reported 
in '84. 

Gallen. Patrick, Corp. : ase 30, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 18, *64 : dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; recent address, Grafton, Mass. 

Holland, John B., Corp. : age 29, res. Holyoke, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Pierce. Stephen, Corp.: age 21, res. Beverly, mustered Jan. 14, '64: (lis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; address was ropsfleld, 
Mass., at present unknown. 

Place. Alonzo H., Corp.: age 23, res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. 18, 64 ; dis. 
order War Dept. May 18, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Sanderson, Henry R., Corp. : age 21, res. Whatcly, mustered Feb. 18, '64; .lis. 
disability Dec. 3, '64 ; pres. address unknown. 

Smith, Thomas. Corp. : age 28, res. Methuen. mustered Jan. 11. '64 : dis. ex. 6f 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Bryant. Eleazer, Mus. : age 17, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; recenl address, Springfield, Mass. 

Graves. Edward O.. Mus.: age 44, res. llingham. mustered Jan. 11. '64; dis. 
disability June 22, '65. 

Hayward. Robert, Mus. : age 16, res. Fall River, mustered Jan. 1 1, '64 : dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June l, '65; pres. address on- 
known. 

Ackiey. James : age 32, res. Leicester, mustered Feb. 18, *64 ; dis. ex. of sen ice 

July 30, '"''5; death reported at reunion of '9:'.. 

Bartrand, Joseph : age 18, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6. V,| ] dis. ex. of ser- 
viee absent BiCK, July 30, '''••"-: no later information. 

Benois, Joseph: age 19, res. Hinsdale, mustered *.pril 6, '64; dis. ex. of service, 

absenl wounded, July 30, '65; no later in formal ion. 

Bertrand, Moses : age 24, res Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex of ser- 
vice July 80, '66; pres. address unknown. 



ENLISTED MEN. 449 



Bird, Frank: age 18, res. Spencer, mustered Feb. IS, '64; killed at Wilderness, 
Va., May 6, '64. 

Bishop, Anson J. : aire 19, res. Gill, mastered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Blanchard, Louis: age 26, res. Spencer, mustered April 6, '64; dis. to date 
from Jan. 3, '65, to complete his military record, under provisions of 
Act of Congress approved April 5, '84; pres. address unknown. 

Booter, Anson: age 39, res. Bernardston, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Boyden, William : age 36, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 6, '65; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown; name 
should be spelled as signed on rolls, Bryden. 

Brazean. Antoine : age 26, res. Hatfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; res. should be Hinsdale; pres. address unknown. 

Brotgers, Lewis : age 23, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; killed at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 12, '64; res. should be Hatfield. 

Brown, William: age 26, res. Spencer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Buckley, Jeremiah : age 35, res. Lowell, mustered Jan. 14, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Bugard, John : age 42, res. Westhampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; deserted 
March 30, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Bullis, Jabez : age 38, res. Gill, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service July 
30. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Burno, Charles: age 28, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
April 29, '64; bounty jumper: no later record. 

Busher, Peter: age 22, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; transferred 
to V.R.C. March 10, '65; no other record. 

Butler. William W. : age 44, res. Southampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. 
disability Feb. 9, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Cain. John: age 21, res. Wrentham, mustered Nov. 22, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th Jan. 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Casey, John H. : age 18, res. Lee, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. disability Feb. 
7, '65; pres. address, Lee, Mass. 

Cate, Lyman, D. : age 21, res. Framingham. mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Collins, James : age 23, res. Sutton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Conway, Edward: age 34, res. Worcester, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Croshier, George J. : age 18, res. Chicopee, mustered April 6, '64 ; killed at 
Spottsylvauia, Va., May 12, '64. 

Daley, John: age 35, res. Shrewsbury, mustered April 6, '64; dis. disability 
Jan. 9, '65; died in Shrewsbury, Mass., Oct. 30, '95. 



450 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Day, Charles W. : age 36, res. Hinsdale, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; deserted Feb. 
28, '64 ; address unknown. 

Day, Henry: age 21, res. Palmer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at Petersburg, 
Va., July 30, '64. 

Dearborn, John A. : age 21, res. Marlborough, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59tbJuue 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Deargenon, Joseph: age 29, res. Hinsdale, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Dietrick. Christopher: age 30, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, "«''4: dis. ex. 
(if service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown 

Dorr, Adam : age 34, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Dyer, John: age 31, res. Tewksbury, mustered Jan. 5, '64: dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Edwards, Rodney: age 44, res. South Reading, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, 1865; pres. address 
unknown. 

Ellis, Albert F. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered April 6, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Farris, Daniel P. : age 44, res. Uxbridge, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. Aug. 15, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Faulkner, Patrick P. : age 21, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address un- 
known. 

Finn, Nicholas: age 34, res. Wtsdield, mustered Feb. 18, 'CI ; killed at Wilder- 
ness, 7a., May 6, '64. 

Fitzgerald. Patrick: aye 21, res. Grot on, mustered Nov. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June l,'6o; pres. address unknown. 

Flaviel. Robert: age 19, res. Ware mastered Feb. L8, '64 : deserted March 
L6, '6 I : iki di her record. 

Fosgate, Oliver: aye 43, res. Westborough. mustered Feb. 18, '6 1 ; dis. ex. of 
service absent, July 30, '65; no later information . 

Frink. Charles F. : age 20, res. Sheffield, mustered Feb. L8, '64; deserted Feb. 
18, '64 : no later informal Ion. 

Gallant, Neill : age 21, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, 'CI: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 69th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Gay, George H. : age 28, res. Natick, mustered Jan. I I, '64 ; dis. disability, June 
22, '65; trans, from ">'.Mli June 1, '65; recent address. Natick. Mass. 

Gillon, James : age 21, res. Charlestown. mustered Jan. 14, '6 I: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice Jul} 80, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pre-, address unknown. 

Glazier, Danforth : age 18, res. West hamplon, mustered Feb. L8, '64; died at- 
Petersburg, Va., June 12, '65. 

Gokey, Joseph: age l':'.. res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. is, ci: descried April 
20, '64 : bounty jumper; no later Information. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 451 

Goodhue. Amos: age 31, res. Rowley, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown 

Gray, James: age 29, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. IS, '61; deserted April 
20, '61 ; bounty jumper ; no later information. 

Gray, Otis W. : age 18, res. Lawrence, mustered Jan. 5, '61; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Haas, Frederick: age 32, res. Charlestowu, mustered Jan. 11, '61; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Harley, Cornelius: age 12, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. IS, '61; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; death reported at reunion of '95. 

Hartwell, Lawrence : age 21, res. Groton, mustered Nov. 14, '61; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; present address unknown. 

Hastings, Russell: age 31, res. Hinsdale, mustered Feb. 18, '61; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Henderson, Samuel: age 26, res. Georgetown, mustered Jan 11, '61; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Holden, Gustavas S. : age 18, res. Holden, mustered Feb. IS, '61; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address, Holden, Mass. 

Holden, Henry: age 25, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Honte, Joseph : age 19, res. Adams, mustered Feb. 18, '61 ; deserted July 23, 
'64. Charge of desertion removed by Act of Congress and certificate of 
discharge furnished to date from July 23, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Huckins, Randall: age 28, res. Groton, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hughes, John: age 42, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Jones, Frank: age 33, res. Marlborough, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Kelly, Michael: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; recent address Worcester, Mass. 

Kinnerny, George: age 28, res. Warren, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

King, Victor: age 26, res. Webster, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. disability July 
27, '64; pres. address unknown. 

King, George : age 20, res. Somerville, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Knight, Charles A. : age 25, res. Westhampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, 
to V.R.C. Jan. 10, '65; dis. from Co. A, 14th V.R.C., July 30, '65; pres. 
address unknown. 

Kyle, William: age 26, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 : pres. address unknown. 

Labombard, Peter: age 34, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 



452 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS 



Lappelle, Cassimer : age 26, res. Spencer, mustered April 6, '64; absent sick; 
dis. Feb. 1, '65 (L.W.D. Nov. 17, '94) ; pres. address unknown. 

Lavonte. David: age 19, res. Spencer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 23, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lee, William: age 33, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. Aug. 10, '65; late address, 13 South Irving Street, Worcester, Mass. 

Leroy, Frank B. : age 18, res. Lancaster, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. order War 
Dept. June 22, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Love, John: age 35, res. Spencer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. disability May 
24, '65; record from dis. papers; recent address, Spencer, Mass. 

McAlpin, Moses E. : age 27, res. Roxbury, mustered Jan. 14, '64: dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 10, '65: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; Veteran Co. I, 
8th Mass. (nine mouths) ; present address unknown. 

McKinney, Michael : age 40, res. Mendon, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. Aug. 10, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Meatte, Jacob : age 44, res. Hinsdale, mustered Feb. is, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Monney, Peter : age 44, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at Spott- 
sylvania, Va.7 May 12, '64. 

Morrisey, James: age 40, res. Lawrence, mustered Jan. 14. '64: dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pics, address unknown. 

Murphy. John: aye 21, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
.July .'in, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Nerny, Francis : age 19, res. Waltham, mustered Jan. 14, '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
■Inly 30, '•;;> : trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Newton, John: aye 28, res. Millbury, mustered April 6, '6 1 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Neylon, John: age II. res. Auburn, mustered Feb. IS, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; death reported at reunion of '91. 

Norway, James : aye 19, res. Hinsdale, mustered Feb. 18, '64: dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, .luly 30, '65 : QO later information. 

O'Donnel, Patrick: aye 35, res. Milford. mustered Feb. is. '64; dis disability 
Dec L3, '64 ; pres. address unknown. 

Osgood. George W. : age 39, res. Char lestown, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. order 

War Dept. Ann. 8, '66; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 

im know II. 

Pecardet. George: aye 32, res. Pittsfleld, mustered April 6, '64; dis. disability 
March 29, '^'>~> : pres. address unknown. 

Pell, William : age 30, res. Westfleld, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted March 
19, '64 ; no later record. 

Poisson. Simon: age 89, res. Ware. stered \'r\>. is, 'i;| : deserted March 

16, '6 1 : no later record. 

Powers, James Q. : age I s . res. ( 'hicopec. mustered Feb. 18, ''',1 : died of w omuls 
at Petersburg, Va., Aug. 2, '64. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 453 



Powers, Michael: age 40, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '(34; died at Dan- 
ville, Va., Nov. 21, '64. 

Powers, Michael: age 25, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '04; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Prouty, William H. : age 23, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65. Records show desertion from Co. A, 10th Mass., 
May 31, '62; deserted from 57th Oct. 30, '64; rejoined from desertion 
April 23, '65, and mustered out with Company; pres. address unknown. 

Reynolds, Edward W. : age 27, res. Concord, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, Car- 
lisle, Mass. 

Rice, Emery L. : age 18, res. Northampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Rowland, Joseph: age 18, res. Deerfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Rowe, Merwin : age 21, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Rutlege, Thomas: age 27, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died of wounds 
at Arlington, Va., June 9, '64. 

Ryan, John: age 25, res. Milford, mustered Feb. IS. '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Ryan, Michael : age 35, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 14, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Sandy, Gilbert: age 19, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 7, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Saucy, Edward: age 18, res. Adams, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept., Aug. 7, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Shailor, Joseph N. : age 45, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. June 
10, '65, per G.O. 77, War Dept. of '65; pres. address unknown. 

Shehan, Thomas: age 22, res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Sherwin, Waldo: age 34, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
Spottsylvania,"Va., May 18, '64." 

Spooner, Chas. E. : age 21. res. Natick, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; died Oct. 31, '93. 

Sykes, Edwin: age 29, res. Lancaster, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted July 
1, '64; possibly prisoner of war; no later information. 

Syncyr, Joseph A. : age 33, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; dis. disability 
Jan. 11, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Taylor, Peter: age 22, res. Plainfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; rejected recruit 
and dis. June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Thurbur, Edward: age 23, res. Framingham, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; no later 
information. 

Tilton, James F. : age 35, res. Concord, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 



454 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Wait. Martin: age 29, res. Buckland, mustered Feb. IS, '04; dis. disability 
Dec. 29', '64; pres. address unknown. 

Walch, Patrick D. : age 20, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Walker, Gilbert L. : age 18, res. Adams, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '05 ; pres. address, North Adams, Mass. 

Walker, John F. : age 22, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted Feb. 
18, '04: no later record. 

Walsh. John: age 27, res. Boston, mustered Jan. 14. '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Welton. Walter B. : age 38, res. Springfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. May 
29, '65; died Dec. 15, '91. 

White. Elbridge : age 27, res. Natick, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent, July .".0, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; no later information. 

White. George: age 21, res. Needham, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted March 
6. '64 : no record of bounty ; no later information. 

Wilcox. Charles H. : ajje 18, res. New Marlboro, mustered April 0, '04; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Wilcox, Henry L. : age 42, res. New Marlboro, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. order 
War Dept. A.ug. 9, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Willis, George : age 38, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
July 30. '05; pres. address unknown. 

Wilson, Hynes : age 24, res. Northampton, mustered Feb. 18, '04; died at 
Danville, Va., Dec. 17, "04. 

Winters, James: age 21, res. Sheffield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted April 
2, 'i',i : no Later record. 

Zimmerman, John: age 41, res. Deer field, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 

Wilderness. Va.. May 6, '64. 



COMPANY I). 

Williams, Charles, l-i Sergt. : age 19, res. New Marlboro, mustered Feb. L8, 
•64; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65 ; Vet. Co. E, 49th Mass.: pres. address 

unknou n. 

Card, Franklin W., Sergt.: age 20, res. Wllllamstown, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
dis. ex. of service Julj SO, '65 : death reported at reunion of '91. 

Crosby, John, Sergl : age 25, res. Stockbridge, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died of 
wounds a1 Fredericksburg, Va., May L2, '64. 

Donnelly, John, Sergt.: age 30, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died 
at Beverly, N.J., Sepl , 30, '64. 

Goodell, Myron. Sergl . : age '-'I . res. Lanesborough, mustered Jan. 2.".. 'CI; dis. 

order War Dept. June 13, '<>•">: Vet. Co. B, I'.'ih Mas-.: death reported 

al i , union of 189] , 



ENLISTED MEN. 



455 



Kelley, John H., Sergt. : age 32, res. Roxbury, mustered Feb. 9 '64; clis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

May, Henry S., Sergt. : age 44, res. Stockbridge, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed 
at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Stanton, John, Sergt. : age 22, res. Lawrence, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Sweetser, James E., Sergt.: age 33, res. Sterling, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Davis, William P., Corp. : age 44, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. 
order War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; late address, 
North Reading, Mass. 

Gallipaux, Joseph, Corp. : age 21, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. 25, '64; clis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hodge. George H., Corp. : age 23, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died 
of wounds at Arlington, Va., June 5, '64. 

Kendall, Theodore B., Corp.: age 20, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
trans, to V.R.C., March — , '65 ; no later record. 

Lareby. George F., Corp.: age 19, res. Williamstown, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
clis. ex. of service July 30, '65 ; death reported with date unknown. 

McCurdy, Robert F., Corp.: age 24, res. Alford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. 
order War Dept. June 13, '65 ; pres. address, Great Barrington, Mass. 

Stone, Charles E., Corp.: age 26, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 9, '64; 
trans, to V.R.C. ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Tyler, Lester, Corp.: age 44, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Ward, Wilbur F., Corp.: age 18, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 25, '64: missing 
May ('», '64 ; probably killed in Wilderness, or prisoner of war. 

Williams, Benjamin F., Corp. : age 18, res. New Marlboro, mustered Feb. 18, 
'64: dis. order War Dept. May 25, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Boyden, Franklin, Mus. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; War 
Dept. reports show that he died Dec. 17, '64, while a prisoner of Avar. 

Byrne, Jonathan J., Mus.: age 21, res. Egremont, mustered Jan. 25, '64; de- 
serted Feb. 17, '64; no later information. 

Everett, Chas. F.. Mus.: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
wounded and died upon the battlefield of Wilderness, May 6, '64. 

McMahon, Martin, Mus.: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Aug. 29, '64; clis. 
order War Dept. June 16, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Welch, Morris, Mus. : age 18, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; clis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; death reported at reunion of 1891. 

Alconbright. Daniel : age 25, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
March 20, '64; no later information. 

Alconbright, George F. : age 29, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18, '64; de- 
serted March 20, '64; no later information. 

Alexander, George W. : age 44, res. Monterey, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. June 
29, '64, without pay or other allowances, by order of Gen. Dix. 



456 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Allen, Albert : age 23, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Allen, Harrison B. : age 18, res. Charlton, mustered Jan. 25, 'G4 ; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Ambrose, Robert: age 44, res. Roxbury, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 50th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Avery, Peter: age 44, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; V"et. Co. I, 49th Mass; pres. address unknown. 

Bancroft, George : age 19, res. Reading, mustered Feb. 9, '64 : dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th .June 1, '65; recent address, Woburn, Mass. 

Barron, William : age 21, res. Brookfield, mustered Feb. 9, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres address unknown. 

Bassett, Joseph: age 28, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; deserted March 
15, '(',4; no later information. 

Bates, Charles A. : age is, res. Worcester, mustered Feb. 18, '64: (lis. disability 
March is. '65; pres. address, 203 Chandler St., Worcester, Mass. 

Bills, Charles W. : age 18, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Jan. 25, '64: dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Bills, Henry: age 30, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at 
Petersburg, Ya., June 17, '64. 

Bills, Wilbur H. : age 23, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Blanchard, James H. : age 27. res. Watertown, mustered Feb. 9, '6 1 : dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Bradbury, Jacob: age 41, res. Essex, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. disability June 
25, '<»•">: wounded June 17, '64 ; death reported, date unknown; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65. 

Brook. Cornelius : age 21, res. Gloucester, mustered Feb. 9, '64 : dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Bryant. Lyman : age 21, res. Hinsdale mustered Feb. 18, '61 ; died at Anderson - 

ville, (la., July 27. '64. 

Birmingham, Frank: aire .'17, res. Huston, mustered Feb. 9, '61: dis. ex. of 

service Julj 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1,'65; pres. address unknown. 

Burroughs, Nelson: age 20, res. Westborougli, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Worcester, Mass., April :;, '64. 

Bush, Stephen F. : age IS. res. Hinsdale, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, to 

V. K.i. and uon. dis. from 8th Co. 2d Ban. Aug. :», '<''•">: pres. address 

unknown. 

Carey, Lockwood : age 45, res. (it. Barrington, mustered Jan. 2."', '64; -cut to 
Readville, Mas-., for discharge before taking the field: pres. address 
unknown. 

Clark, John: age 29, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. L'.".. '64; 1st Lieut.. Mil 

U.8.C.T., H. a , June 17, '65; must, out as 1st Lieut.. Feb. 10, '66; pres. 
address unknot a. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 457 

Cobleigh Henry E.: age 21, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18, '64- killed 
at Spottsylvania, Va., May 18, '64. ' 

Cobleigh James U. : age 18, res. Williamstown. mustered Feb. 18, '64 • died 
July 30, 64 ; Surg. Gen.'s report says died in rebel prison. 

Collins, Henry A.: age 39, res. Lee, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. wuaei 

Coster, Matthew P : age 21, res. Gloucester, mustered Feb. 9, '64- dis ex of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Cowden James : age 22, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 25, '64: dis. disability July 
13, i>4; pres. address unknown. 

Curley, John : age 37, res. Mendon, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. order War Dent 
June 6, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Curley, Thomas: age 44, res. Upton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at North 
Anna River, May 24, '64. 

Dawley, Delbert S. : age 22, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18 '64- dis 
order War Dept. June 19, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Dougall, Julius : age 18, res. Hinsdale, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Finkle, Martin E. : age 22, res. Sheffield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 2, '65, for disability; pres. address unknown. 

Flynn, Patrick: age 30, res. Milford, mustered Jau. 25, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 12, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Fullerton, Stewart M. G. : age 29, res. Egremont, mustered Jan. 25, '64; sup- 
posed dead, prisoner May 6, '64 ; reported death confirmed by War Dept 
under date of Sept. 27, '95. 

Gilligan, Matthew: age 35, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Gill, William: age 26, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information; trans, from 59th June 
1, '65. 

Gregory, Charles C. : age 39, res. Saudisfleld, mustered Feb. IS, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, 'C,r> ; no later information. 

Green, George E. : age 44, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 9, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information ; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65. 

Haines, Charles H. : age 24, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65. 

Harvey, Charles: age 20, res. West Stockbridge. mustered Feb. 18, '64; clis. 
order War Dept. June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Haskell, David, Jr.- a.?e 27, res. Otis, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 13, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Hawes. Edward : age 18, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dishonorable dis. 
June 29, '64, with loss of all pay and allowances, by order of Gen. Dix; 
pres. address unknown. 



l.-.x 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Hayes. John : age 44, res. Salem, mustered Feb. 9, '64: dis. ex. of service July 
30, '65; trans, from 50th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Henry. Thomas: age 27, res. Lenox, mustered Jan. 25, '64: deserted Jan. 
29, '64; no later information. 

Hulitt, Orrin : age 41, res. Lee, mustered Jan. 25, '04; dis. disability, no date; 
pres. address, Lee, Mass. 

Hinton, John E. : age 45, res. Sheffield, mustered Feb. 18, T,4 : dis. disability 
April is. '<;:, : pres. address unknown. 

Hodge. James: age 18, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 25, '64: supposed dead; 
prisoner May 6, '64; no later information. 

Hudson, George N. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July :!0, '65; recent address, Westboro, Mass. 

Jacquins. Egbert S. : age 29, res. Lee, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died at Anderson- 
ville. Ga., Aug. 15, '64. 

Jordan. Charles A. : age 26, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted April 
17. '64; bounty jumper ; no later information. 

Jordan. Erastus C. : age 44, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 2.">, '64; rejected re- 
cruit and discharged June 13, '64, disability; death reported, date un- 
known. 

Kelly, Martin: age 38, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted, no date 
recorded. 

Kirby. Jacob : age 42, res. Gt. Bar ring ton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. disability 
.March — , '65; pres. address unknown. 

Knight, Isaac S. : age 1"), res. Dunstable, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. disability 
June 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lamont. Daniel: age 34, res. West Stockbridge. mustered Jan. 25, '01; died 
Philadelphia, l'a.: no date recorded. 

Larkins, James : age 25, res. Lenox, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; deserted Jan. 29, '64 : 
no later information. 

Lebounty. John ; age 19, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 9, '64 : dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '66; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lee. Saybrook : age 39, res. Lenox, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died in hands of 
enemy : no date recorded. 

Llewellyn. Patrick: age 18, res. Lynn, mustered Feb. 9, '64 ; dis ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Long. Thomas : age 12, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, to 
V.R.C. Jan. 19, '65. 

Maloney, Henry C. : age L8, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died of 
wounds : no dale recorded. 

Maloney. William: age 28, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Jan. 28, '64; died 
Sept. L8, '64. 

Mambert. Peter J.: age 38, ns. N. Marlboro, mustered Feb 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept, June 19, '66. 

Marshall. Charles, jr. : age 80, res. Gloucester, mustered Feb. 9, '64 : i\\<. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, fr 591 h June i . '65; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 459 



McDonald, Alfred: age 34, res. Lee, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. July 19, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Merrill, John H. : age 34, res. Lee, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. disability Oct. 
15, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Messer, John A. : age 38, res. Reading, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 19, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Mooney, John: age 19, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Morgan. Ambrose E. : age 20, res. Washington, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed 
at Spottsylvauia, Va., May 12, '64. 

Morrissey, Daniel: age 25, res. Lenox, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted Jan. 
29, '64 : no later information. 

Morse, Newton: age 31, res. Natick, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Moynahan, Thomas: age 41, res. Wayland, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Oakes, Ensign A. : age 18, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died of 
wounds at Fredericksburg, Va. ; no date recorded. 

O'Connor, Timothy: age 22, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

O'Donahue, John: age 31, res. Lynn, mustered Feb. 6, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

O'Keefe, Daniel: age 18, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
Feb. 20, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

O'Neil, John: age 43, res. Stockbridge, mustered Feb. 18, '64; wounded, 
supposed dead, May 6, '64. Records of War. Dept. show that he died 
upon the battlefield of the Wilderness. May 6, '64. 

O'Sullivan, John : age 43, res. Becket, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. ex. of seiwice 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Parker, Warren C. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Patterson, Henry: age 44, res. Sandisfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died at 
Petersburg, Va^, July 14, '64. 

Pearl. William N. : aye 26, res. Otis, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65: pres. address. Otis. Ma^. 

Peck, Thomas J. : age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. Aug. 8, 'iio: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Perkins, Henry S. : age 24, res. Newburyport, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, 'C>5 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Piatt, James: age 44, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65: death reported November, L889. 

Radcliffe, George E. : aire 40, res. Chelmsford, mustered Feb. 9, '64 ; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1. '65; no later 
information. 



460 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Rathburn, William H. : age 27, res. Stockbridge, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. 

of Bervice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 
Reagan, John : age 44, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 9, '04; dis. order War Dept. 

'65; pres. address unknown. 
Reardon Timothy: age 27, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 

service July 30, ; 65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Reed Bradley: age 44, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Reed. Edwin R. : a<re 23, res. N. Marlboro, mustered Jan. 25, '64; sup. killed 
at North Anna River, Va., .May 24, '64; no later information. 

Remick, Augustus: age 21, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. disability 
Feb. 27, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Robbins, Jeremiah: age 27, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick. July 30, '65: no later information. Trans, from 
59th June 1, '65. 

Satchell, Dunham: age—, res. , enlisted Feb. 9. '64; trans, from 

59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65^ address since un- 
known. 

Scriber, Henry C. : age 22, res. N. Marlboro, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disa- 
bility June 13, '64: pres. address unknown. 

Sears, George H. : age 19, res. Adams, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, "65; nothing later. 

Shea, John : age 22, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
' July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Soudant, Joseph : age 18, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex- 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Spaulding, William A.: age 24. res. Lenox, mustered Jan. 25, -64: deserted 
Jan. 29, '64; no later information. 

Staples. Samuel: age 26, res. Medford, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June L, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Stanwood, William : age 38, res. Uoxbury, mustered Feb. 9, '64 : dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, »65; trans, from 59th June 1, '66; pres. address unknown. 

Stephens, Rufus : age 26, res. Charlton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 \ dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Stover. Simeon: age n. res. Monterey, mastered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June L, 65; pres. ad- 
dress unkimw ii : no later in format ion. 

Swift. Silas C. : age 24, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Jan. 25, '64 : dis. ex. of 

Bervice, absenl sick. July 80, '65; no later Information. 
Townsend, Almond C. age L9, res. Gt. Barrington, mustered Jan. 25, v,|; 
transferred to V.R.C. ; dis. from Co. G, 9th Y.K.c. July 15, 66; record 

Since unknown. 

Triol William: age 18, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 19, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 80, '66; trans, from 59th June l. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Viner Benjamin A.: age 28, res. Pittsfleld, mustered Jan. 26, '64; dig 
Of service, absenl wounded, July 80, '66; no later information. 



(X. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 461 

Vinton, George : age 32, res. Charlton, mustered Jan 25, '64 ; dis. ex. of service, 
absent wounded, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Vocell, James: age 23, res. Stockbridge, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order 
War Dept., May 5, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Walker. Ephraim : age 40, res. Williamstown, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disa- 
bility July 13, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Wallace, Robert: age 38, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Whitney, George A.: age 25, res. Chicopee, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Willett, Alfred: age 18, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted May 
7, '64 ; no later information ; possibly killed or pris. of war in Wilderness. 

Willey, Hollis H. : age 25, res. Medford, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Williams, John : age 21, res. Lowell, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted April 17, 
'64 : bounty jumper ; no further record. 

Williams, Thomas: age 23, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 



COMPANY E. 

Farnham. Moses L., 1st Sergt. : age 19, res. Andover, mustered Jan. 5, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th July 1, '65; pres. address, 
Andover. Mass. 

Paine, Horace H., 1st Sergt.: age 30, res. Belchertown, enlisted Oct. 28, '63; 
dis. order War Dept. Aug. 7, '65: wounded in battle of Wilderness and 
twice in battle of Fort Stedman ; recommended for a commission just 
prior to last named engagement; pres. residence, Palmer, Mass. 

Collins, Edwin, Sergt. : age 28, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; address soon after dis., Springfield, Mass. 

Greeley, J. E., Sergt. : age 22, res. Royalston, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; Vet. 21st Mass.; pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Luscomb, George W., Sergt.: age 30, res. Salem, mustered March 4, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '(Jo; pres. address 
unknown. 

Spanola, Leon, Sergt. : age 19, res. Winchendon, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Arnold. Henry, Corp. : age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. r 25, '64; deserted 
Nov. 29, '64; no later information. 

Coyne, Patrick, Corp. : age 33, res. Lawrence, mustered Feb. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; since unknown. 

Desautell, Henry G. Corp. : age 18, res. Milford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, 
to Co. G, 24th V.R.C., Feb. 15, 65; dis. July 27. '65; record since, 
unknown. 



462 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Fuller, Frank D., Corp. : age 26, res. Palmer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; (lis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address. Soldiers' Home. Togus, Me. 

Hathaway, Joshua, Corp.: age 44, res. Huntington, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
billed at Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Mahony, James, Corp.: age 33, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
April 16, '64; no later information. 

McCoy, Alexander, Corp. : age 32, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

McDavitt. James, Corp.: age 23, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from .V.ith June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

O'Brien, William, Jr., Corp. : age 19, res. South Danvers, mustered Feb. 4, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. 
address unknown. 

Day, Samuel. Mus. : age 18, res. Westfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

O'Leary. Daniel, Mus.: age 14. res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Speare, Ephraim W., Mus. : age 18, res. Stoneham, mustered Feb. 9, '64: dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Sullivan, James. Mus.: age L8, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64: dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Abbott. Charles : a«e 25. res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted April. 
'64 : bounty jumper; no later record. 

Albert, Charles : age 35, res. Walthain, mustered Jan. 5. '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick. July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; no later 
information. 

Alden, George M. : age 20, res VVilbrahain. mustered Jan. 25. '64: killed at 
Wilderness, 7a., -May 6, '64. 

Anthony, William H. : age 18, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at 
N. Anna River, Va., May 24, '64. 

Barrows. William R. : age 44, res. Belcherlown. mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis 
disability April L'">, '65; death reported, date unknown. 

Benroy, Thomas; age 26, res. Cunrmington, mustered Jan. L'.">, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., .May 6, '64. 

Blair, Frank: age It, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. '_'.".. '64; dis. disability 
Feb. 27, '65; death reported, dale unknown. 

Blauvelt. William H. ; age L8, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '6 I ; dis. order 
War Dept. June 21, '65; recent address, Cliff St., Worcester, Mass. 

Brean, Peter: age 18, res. Buekland, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, to V.R.C. 
March 15, '65; 16th Co., 2d Batt. ; hon. dis. Sept. 7. '65; pres. address 

unknown. 

Brown, John : age 18, res. Whately, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died at Anderson- 

\ille. (la.. Oct. 12, '64. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 463 



Brown, Seva : age 33, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at Wilderness, 
Va., May 6, '64. 

Brudean, Alfred: age 24, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 25, 'G4 ; deserted Feb. 
2, '64; no later information. 

Bryant, Nahum : age 36, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; trans, to V.R.C. 
April 25, '65, 112 Co., 2d Batt. ; hon. dis. as Corp. Aug. 23, '65; pres. 
address, Springfield, Mass. 

Bryan, Michael : age 30, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Burleigh, Asa D. : age 29, res. Worthington, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, to 
V.R.C, Sept. 30, '64, Co. I, 10th Regt. ; hon. clis. July 26, '65; death re- 
ported at reunion of '84 on account of wounds received in battle. 

Burr, Charles: age 42, res. Millbury, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Cahill, John: age 21, res. Northampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, '64. 

Carpenter, Andrew N. : age 28, res. Monson, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted 
April 16, '64; bounty jumper; no other record and no address. 

Cheeney, George N. : age 22, res. Northbridge, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. 
order War Dept., May 25, '65; wounded June 17, '64; pres. address 
unknown. 

Cheeney, George W. : age 19, res. Topsfield, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 8, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Coburn. Joseph : age 22, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; deserted Feb. 
18, '64; no other record and no address. 

Coleman, John M. : age 44, res. Newburyport, mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. disa- 
bility July 28, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Collins, Thomas : age 44, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Corbett, John: age 42, res. New Braintree, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Cudworth, Edwin: age 20, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at Peters- 
burg, Va., March 25, '65. 

Demarets, Alexander: age 21, res. West Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; 
dis. disability May 2, '65; dis. as Oliver De Merrett; pres. address 
unknown. 

Demon, Henry: age 22, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted Feb. 
20, '64; Rouses Point Canadian; no other record and no address. 

Dennis, William : age 35, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. disability 
Aug. 21, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; trans, to 21st V.R.C. and clis. 
Aug. 21, '65. 

Dorman, Anson A. : age 34, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; pres. address, Belchertown, Mass. 

Dorr, Daniel L. : age 39, res. Sterling, mustered Jan. 25, '64 : dis. disability 
June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 



464 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Drake, Eleazer C. : age 44, res. Monson, mustered Jan. 25, '64: died at Ander- 
sonville, Ga., June 30, '64. 

Duncan, Walter H. : age 20, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, 'G4 ; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 9, 'G4 ; pi'es. address, Indian Orchard. Mass. 

Duren. Charles C. : age 21, res. Groton, mustered Feb. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; no later information. 

Durgin, Thomas: age 19, res. Salem, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Elliott, George: aire 19, res. Buckland, mustered Feb. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Farrell. Thomas: age 24, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Finn, Bartholomew: age 22, res. Hatfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; missing July 
30, '64 ; supposed to have been killed in battle. 

Ford, Alden, Jr.: age 32, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 1, '64: dis. order 
War Dept. June 13, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address un- 
known. 

Foster, Alonzo T. : age 35, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 4, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Foster, Edward: aire 35, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 7, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Gokey, Benjamin: age 18, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '61 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent wounded, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Gosler, Oliver: age 19. res. Leicester, mustered Feb. IS, '64: missing May 24, 
'64; no other record ; deserted: this from personal memory. 

Gray, John: age '■>-, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted Feb. 2, 
ill : no address and no other record. 

Halloran, James O. : age 24. res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. 
disability Oct. 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Haley, Jeremiah : age 25, res. Marlboro, mustered April 21, '64 : dis. order War 
Dept . June 20, '65 : trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pre-, address unknown. 

Hammond, George M. : age 22, res. Palmer, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
battle of Wilderness, Va., Maj 6, '64. 

Hapgood, Henry H. : age ii, res. Marlboro, mustered Feb. I, '64; dis. ex. of 

service July 80, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

Hastings. William O. : age 35, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; killed at 
Petersburg, Va.., Aug. 5, '6 1 . 

Hazen, Ralph: age 10, res. Easthampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 : dis. order 

War Dept. June 12, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Howe, Stephen A. : age 22, res. Marlboro, mustered Feb. I. '64 \ dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 80, '65 ; trans, from 59th June I, '65; pres address, Marlboro, 

.Mass 

Howath, William : age 33, res. Sonicrvillc. mustered Feb. I- '6 I : 'lis. ex. of Ber- 
\ 'ice July 80, '65; trans, from 59th June I, '65; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 465 

Hughes, Thomas: age 35, res. Monson, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; died (reported drowned) at Three Rivers, Mass. ; date 
unknown. 

Jackson, James: age 18, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Johnson, Henry : age 35, res. Charlestowu, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 50th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Jones, Eben : age 44, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability; no date; 
no later information. 

Karrigan, Martin: age 34, res. Ware, mustered Feb. 8, '64; trans, to V.R.C.; 
dis. July 25, '65; death reported without date. 

Kenfield, Henry M. : age 30, res. Belchertown ; mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, 
to V.R.C. ; 14th Co., 2d Batt. ; hon. dis. Nov. 23, '65. 

La Bastions, Joseph : age 26, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
March 29, '64 ; Rouses Point Canadian looking for bounty ; no other record. 

Lane, George P. : age 35, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Lapoint, Joseph E. : age 22, res. Easthampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Laraby, Peter: age 19, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Loker, Loren : age 45, res. Princeton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Long, James: age 20, res. Concord, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Longdt, Joseph: age 19, res. Wendell, mustered Jan. 25, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6,. '64. 

Lovett, John M. : age 3S, res. Somerville, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Mahan, Thomas: age 33, res. Princeton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 28, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Manly, William H. : age 23, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; rlis. disa- 
bility June 21, '64; did not go with the regt. to the held; pres. address 
unknown. 

Martins, Newell B. : age 18, res. Stoneham, mustered Feb. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

McCarty, Michael: age 35, res. New Braintree, mustered Jan. 25, '64; missing 
May 24, '64; probably killed; no later information. 

McClellan, Alexander: age 30, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dishon. dis. 
Sept. 15, '65, by sentence Gen. Court Martial; pres. address unknown. 

McCoy, Robert : age 35, res Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

McNamara, John: age 42, res. Cummington, mustered Jan. 25, '64; trans, to 
V.R.C, 14th regt., Sept. 10, '64; dis. July 31, '65, ex. of service; pres. 
address unknown. 

30 



466 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



McNamee, Patrick: age 32, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '(54; trans, 
to V.R.C. K, 11th regt.. dis. Aug. 8, '65; pres. address, Easthampton. 
Mass. 

Norcross, Otis C. : age 27, res. Opton, mustered Jan. L'.">. '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pros, address unknown. 

Murdock, Charles H. : age 30, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 2f>, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; Vet. 21st Mass.: wounded in battle of Chantilly; 
address. Three Rivers, Mass. 

Murphy, William : age 23, res. Salem, mustered Feb. 4. '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30 '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Nash, Henry H. : age 37, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 4, <!4; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address unknown. 

O'Connor, Michael: age 44, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, "HI: killed ,n 
Wilderness, Va., .May 6, '64. 

O'Keif. Thomas: age 28, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64 : dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Parker, Charles H. : age 24, res. New Braintree, mustered Jan. 2.">. '04; dis. 
order War Dept. May 18, '65; death reported in '81. 

Pasco, Cephas B. : age 27, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '<;( ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; death reported in 76. 

Pasco, George W. : age 19, res. rainier, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Pease. John P.: age 31, res. Natick, mustered Feb. I. '64; dis. disability June 
12, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pres. address, Portland, Me. 

Peckham, Henry M. : aye 28, res. Boston, mustered Feb. i, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1. '(!.">: pres. address unknown. 

Peckham, Samuel H. : age 30, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 1. '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1. '65; reported as having died while prisoner of war at 
Danville. Va. : no later information. 

Pike, Charles F. : age 23, res. Worcester, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, to 4th 
Co., 2d Batt., V.R.C. ; dis. as Corp., Sept. 6, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Proctor. Alfred: aye 39, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June '_'. '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; pies, address unknown. 

Ring, Benjamin- age 15, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
June 29, '64; did not go to the fronl with regt.; pres. address unknown. 

Roberts, Thomas H. : age 23, its. Berkley, mustered Feb. I . '6 1 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
\ie<Jul\ 30, '65; i rans. from 59th June L, '65 ; pres. address unknown 

Rockwood. Judson A. : age 19, res. rlopkinton, mustered Feb. 4, '64 ; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June l. '65 ; pre-, address unknown. 

Rimbach. Albert J. : age 22, re-. ( 'liar lest ow n. mustered Feb. I. '64 : dis. ex. of 
service July 80, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; previous service in 
i > Navy; on the Niagara as first-class musician from June 29, '60, to 
June 20, '62; pres. address unknown. 

Roster. James J.: age 31, re-. Cambridge, mustered April 21, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. June L2, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '66; pre-, address un- 

knou n. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 467 

Russell. Loren: age 24, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Ruth, Richard A. : age 18, res. Roxbury, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. order Gen. 
Dix, June 13, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Ryan. James B. : age 21, res. West Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disa- 
bility June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Rockwood, George C. : mustered Jan. 14, '64; dis. July 30, '65, as absent sick; 
trans, from 59th June 1, '65; no later information. 

Sawyer, Thomas G. : age 18, res. Stow, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 2, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Sharp, Edward: age 19, res. Woburn, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 2, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Shea, James: age 22, res. Hatfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Short, John ; age 27, res. Orange, mustered Jan. 25, '64; died of wounds at 
Arlington, Va., July 28, '64. 

Smith, Samuel S. : age 40, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, "65: former address, Leominster. Mass. 

St Dennis. Alfred : age 20, res. Buckiaud, mustered Jan. 25, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

St. Onge, Charles: age 22, res. Ashlield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted April 
25, '64: Canadian bounty jumper: no later information. 

Sullivan, Cornelius: age 30. res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; deserted 
April 17, '64; Rouses Point bounty jumper; no later information. 

Sweeney, Morgan: age 21. res. Salem, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 7, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Teague. Charles C. : age 26, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 4, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; recent address, Salem, 
Mass. 

Thompson, Asa: age 34, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
May 18. '()5: death reported, no date. 

Timothy, Thomas : age 44, res. Northampton, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disa- 
bility March 1, '65; pres. address, Northampton. Mass. 

Tollman, David H. : age 29, res. Ware, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disability 
June 13, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Turner, Charles M. : age 18, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. disa- 
bility June 29, '64; pres. address unknown. 

Turner, Richard S. ; age 40, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. Feb. 12, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Walsh, Matthias: age 27,' res. Lynn, mustered Feb. 4, '61; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, Lynn, Mass. 

Welch, Thomas N. : age 18, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 25, '64; missing 
July 30, '64: prisoner of war. 

Wetherby, Warren S. : age 30, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. ex. 
of service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information. 



468 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



White, Lorenzo : age 23, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 25, '04 ; killed at Wilder- 
ness. 7a., May 6, '64. 

Winch, Joseph B. : age 24, res. Buekland, mustered Jan. 25, 'G4 ; dis. order 
War Dept. Aug. 15, '65; recent address, Leicester, Mass. 

Young. Joseph: age 29, res. Orange, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dishonorably dis. 
Feb. 9, '65; cause unknown; record and address since unknown. 



COMPANY F. 

Bartlett. James F., 1st Sergt. : age 24, res. Fitchbiirg, mastered Feb. 18, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg, Ma-s. 

Bigelow, Calvin A., 1st Sergt.: age 21, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; 
dis. as supernumerary June 13, '65 ; pres. address, Fitchburg. Mass. 

Davis. Oscar D., 1st Sergt.: age 30, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; 
deserted June 12, '64; no later information. 

Clark, Caleb, Sergt.: age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service .luly 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Farnsworth. Rufus G., Sergt.: age 23, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; 
dis. order War Dept. June 28, '65; pres. address. Fitchburg, Mass. 

Hastings, John M., Sergt. : age 37, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. is. '64; missing 
May 13, '64; no later information. 

Lang. Thomas, Sergt.: age 21, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 20. '64; dis. 
order War Dept. Aug. L0, v,:> ; trans, from 59th June l, '65; pres. address 

unknown. 

Richards. John, Sergt. : age 2'.'. res. Newbury, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from f>:>tli June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Vickery. Charles W., Ser^t. : age 18, res. Hancock, mustered April 6, "61 ; dis. 
ex. of service, .July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Burke, John, Corp.: age 36, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service, July, 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Davis. Freeman, Corp. : age 21, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. L8, '64; killed in 
battle of Wilderness May 6, '64. 

Dunn. William S., Corp.: age 23, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. Is. '64; dis. 

disability Nov. 80, '64; pres. address. Marlboro. Mass. 

Farrill, Martin, Corp.: age 24, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. IS, '64; dis ex. 
of service July 80, '65; pres. address. Fitchburg, Mass. 

Southwick, Francis, Corp.: age 21, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. 

order War Dept. June 10, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Flynn, James F., Mus. : aL r e 18, res. Roxbury, mustered Feb 20, '64; dis. ex. 

01 service July 80, '65; trans, from 69th June 1, '65; recent address. 
Roxbury, Mass. 

Hall, Rodney, Mus.: age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. is, '64; dis. order 

War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 469 



Wetherbee, Warren S., Mus. : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg, Mass. 

Allen, Horace B. : age 19, res. Wendell, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. order 
"War Dept. Aug. 10, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Babbitt, Charles W. : age 30, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
General Auger, Jan. 27, '65; death reported Sept. 10, '86. 

Bachant, Joseph: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Baker, John : age 22, res. Sutton, mustered Feb. 18, '64, deserted April 16, '64; 
bounty jumper; no later record. 

Barnes, Charles H. : age 27, res. Gardner, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. July 7, '65; pres. address, Furnace, Worcester County, Mass. 

Barnes, Willard F. : age 25, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; pres. address, Standish, Me. 

Bartlett, George A. : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address, Concord, Mass. 

Barry, Edward: age 21, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. July 10, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Barry, Michael: age 40, res. Lawrence, mustered Feb. 20, '64; died in rebel 
prison; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; notice of death received War 
Dept. June 19, '65. 

Beckwith. Herbert D. : age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Petersburg, Va., Jan. 18, '65. 

Benson, William G. : age 34, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, July 30, '65 ; no later information ; pres. residence, 
Fitchburg, Mass. 

Blood, Charles F. : age 21, res. Burlington, mustered Feb. 13, '65; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; enlisted for one year ; death reported Dec. 27, '87. 

Bourdon, Augustine: age 18, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; pres. address, 311 Adams St., Boston, Mass. 

Brannon, Patrick: age 42, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; death reported Feb. 21, '90; name recorded at War 
Dept as Brannon, but he signed rolls as Brennan. 

Brennan, Gerold : age 32, res. Stoughton, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Brennan, Patrick: age 21, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Brigham, Ozro A.: age 39, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at 
Fort Stedman, Va., March 25, '65. 

Brown, Robert: age 22, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Bruce, John: age 34, res. Burlington, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 



470 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Byron. John: age 18, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 20, 'G4 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; traus. from 50th June 1, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Carey, James: age 19, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18. '64 ; dis. order War 
Dept. June 26, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Carey, Michael: age 25, res. Milford, mustered Feb. IS, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; recent address, Medway, Mass. 

Casey, John : age 26, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg, Mass. 

Changyon, Joseph: age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Fell. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Changyon. Levi: age 22, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. IS, '64; deserted March 

13, '64; since unknown. 

Changyon, William : (res. and age unknown) mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. Nov. 

14, '64, by order War Dept. ; since unknown. 

Classon, Henry: age 38, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, July 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg. .Mass. 

Clancy, Peter: age 18, res. Newburyport, mustered Feb. 20, '64: dis. order 
War Dept. June 7, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Clarage, William : age 40, res. Lynn, mustered Feb. 20, Y,| ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65: traus. from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Costello, Thomas T. : age 28, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. IX, '64; dis. ex. 
of service .July 30, '65; address, Fitchburg, Mass. 

Coughlin, John : age 43, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg. Mass. 

Crawford, John S. : age 22, res. Sutton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted April 
17. '64; bounty jumper ; do later record. 

Daley, Charles: age 33, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64 : dis. e\. of ser- 
vice, absent, wounded, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Day, David S. : age 25, res. Lowell, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; (Corporal) trans, from 59th June 1, '65: recent address, 
120 Bartlett St., Charlestown, Mass. 

Delany, John : age 31, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. May 30, '65; pres. address, Fitchburg, Mas-. 

Derx, Conrad N. : age 18, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June l. '66; pres. address 
unknown. 

Derby, Edward M. : age :'.i», res. Fitchburg, mastered Feb. is, '64; killed at 
Spottsj h ania, \'a.. Maj 12, '64. 

Dolan, Timothy: age 26, res. Fitchburg, mustered I'd'. 18, 'I'd : dis. e\. of ser- 
vice July 30, '•'••">; address prior to '90, Clinton. Mass; since unknown. 

Edgecomb, George R. : age 35, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service Julj 80, '65; death reported In Fitchburg. May 2, '7.".. 

Ellis, Alfred G. : age 20, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice Jul) 80, '65 ; trans, from 59th June L, '65; pres. address unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 471 

Fabyan, Joseph: age 42, res. Weston, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Flagg, Edwin A. : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. disability 
May 25, '65; died at Fitzwilliam, N.H., of blood poison, caused by 
wound in the hip received in battle of Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, '64'; 
date of death April, '96. 

Flanders, Wallace W. : age 23, res. Salisbury, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address 
unknown. 

Frost, James M. : age 18, res. Washington, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. July 3, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Fuller, Henry: age 28, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. May 25, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Farnsworth, Joseph W. : age 19, res. Fitchburg, mustered April 16, '64; dis. 
June 2, '65, order War Dept. ; pres. address, 403 Crescent St., Waltham, 
Mass. 

Flaherty. Bartery : age , res. — ■ — -, enlisted in 59th Mass. Feb. 15, '64; 

trans, to 57th June 1, '65 ; must, out by ex. of service July 30, '65 ; since 
unknown. 

Gaul, John: age 27, res. Brookfield, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent wounded, July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; no later 
information. 

Gardner, Horace O. : age 19, res. Hancock, mustered April 6, '04 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Gerran, Ezra: age 24, res. Yarmouth, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Gibbons, Daniel: age 19, res. Ashby, mustered Feb. 9, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Goddard, Wesley D.: age 39, res. Royalston, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Petersburg, Va., Aug. 18, '64; mortally wounded by the explosion of a 
shell from a Confederate battery while on duty in the trenches in front 
of Petersburg, Va. 

Gove, Alfred E. : age 19, res. Milford, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; wounded May 6, '64, and March 25, '65 ; pres. address 
unknown. 

Gould, Austin K. : age 18, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 17, '65 ; pris. of war at Andersonville, Ga. ; died Sept. 8, '93. 

Hanrahan, Edward: age 40, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; death reported in '90. 

Harrington, Clement A.: age 18, res. Koxbury, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. 
order War Dept. Aug. 8, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 : pres. address 
unknown. 

Harris, Michael: age 34, res. Longmeadow, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died of 
wounds at Fredricksburg, Va., May 12, '64. 

Harris, Thomas W. : age 26, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; address previous 
to '90, Woburn, Mass. ; since unknown. 

Hennessey, John: age 37, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; death reported at reunion of '94. 



472 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Henry, George A.: age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, to 
Co. K, 22d V.R.C., Sept. 2, '64: dis. Aug. 9, '65: pres. address, 15 Austin 
St., Carnbriclgeport, Mass. ; has been carried on record in War Dept., as 
John A. Henry, but mistake recently corrected. (L.W.D., Nov. 14. '92.) 

Hosea, Robert : age 19, res. Leominster, mustered Feb. 20, 'G4 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 127 Chelsea 
St., East Boston, Mass. 

Hoyt, John E. : age 21, res. Somerville, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65: pres. address unknown. 

Humphrey. Thomas: age 19, res. North Bridgewater, mustered Feb. 20, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; pres. address 
unknown. 

Huntress, William H. : age 23, res. Haverhill, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; since must, out 
unknown. 

Keene, Granville H. : age 36, res. Lowell, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address. Water- 
town, Mass. 

Keilty, Daniel: age 40, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; missing May 6, 
'64; no later information; probably killed or prisoner of war at Wilder- 
ness. 

Larew, Isaac J. : age 35, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '^5; pres. address unknown. 

Lawless, John: age 36, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Luchay, Abraham: age 21, res. Spencer, mustered April 6, '64; missing May 
6, '64; no later information; probably killed in Wilderness, or prisoner 
<»l" war. 

Lund, John T. : age 19, res. Winrhendon, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
\ ire July 30, '65 : trans, from 59th June 1. '65; since dis. unknown. 

Maynard, John P. : age 38, res. Dudley, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 6, '64. 

McCarthy, Patrick: age 29, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. IS, '64; died at 
Washington, D.C., July 5, '64. 

McCorkell, William : age 18, res. Dorchester, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; trans, from 69th June l, '65; pres. res. Stoughton, 

McDowell. John : age 20, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 80, '65 ; pres. address, Fitchburg, Mass. 

McGonn, Michael: age 39, res. Palmer, mustered Aug. 18, '64 : dis. order War 
Dept. June 15, '•',.".; res. F.astliainpton. Mass. 

Mclntire, Albion: age i*. res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '61: trans, to Co. 

B, llth \ lit '.. Ma\ 6, '65; dis. Aug. 8, '65; recent address, Worcester, 

Mas- 
McMaster, George C. : age 34, res. Bturbridge, mustered April 6, '64 ; missing 

May 6, '64; do later Information; probably killed or prisoner of war in 

Wilderness. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 473 

McSherry. John : age 33, res. Shelburne, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Miles. Michael: age 40, res. Fitchburg, mustered April 6, '64; missing July 
30, '64; no later information; probably killed or prisoner of war in 
Wilderness. 

Murray. Timothy : age 30, res. Charlestown, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Nickerson, Albert M. : age 21, res. Sheffield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order 
War Dept. June 28, '65; pro. to Corp. ; pres. address unknown. 

Norwood, George : age 39, res. Bernardston, mustered Dec. 20, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Nourse. Stephen H. : age 36, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 ; death reported May 16, '90. 

O'Brien, Darby: age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; Petersburg, 
Va., killed on picket duty July 5, '64. 

O'Donnell, Michael: age 30, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. order War 
Dept. June 10, '65 ; death reported May 15, '79. 

Parks, Frederick W. : age 19, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Petersburg, Va., March 25, '65; killed in battle of Fort Stedman, Va. 

Peabody, William T. : age 44, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Andersonville, Ga., Sept. 2, '64. 

Pine, Edmund : age 26, res. Westfield, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65 ; pres. address unknown. 

Ploof, Louis F. : age 18, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted 
March 29, '64; record in civil life unknown. 

Portland, Patrick: age 31, res. Fitchburg, mustered April 6, '64; dis. disability 
July 13, '65 ; pres. address, 122 Salem St., Boston, Mass. 

Putney, Burrill : age 35, res. South Danvers, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; former address, 
Woburn, Mass. 

Raymond, Oren T. : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; killed in 
battle of Wilderness May 6, '64. 

Raymond, Peter: age 21, res. Greenfield, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; since dis. unknown. 

Richards. James: age 19, res. Lee, mustered Feb. 18, '64; missing May 6, '64; 
killed in battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Roche, Redmond: age 31, res. Dudley, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, July 30, '65; no later information. 

Ryan, Charles: age 18, res. Adams, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65. 

Ryan, Martin: age 29, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; missing June 
17, '64 ; no later information : probably killed in battle or prisoner of war. 

Sabin, George F. : age 20, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, to Co. 
B, 19th V.R.C., Jan. 28, '65; dis. as Sergt. Aug. 30, '65; pres. address, 
Fitchburg, Mass. 



474 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Sawyer, Edgar F. : age 26, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; death reported May 14. '94. 

Seward, Garland S. : age 43, res. Dennis, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 1-50, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, 'H5: pres. address unknown. 

Sherman, Edwin P. : age 30, res. Adams, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65: pres. address unknown. 

Sheahen, Redmond: age 21, res. Bolton, mustered Feb. 18, '64; deserted April 
23, '64: obtained bounty and deserted; since unknown. 

Simmons, Wesley T. : age 18, res. Washington, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Skye. William: age 29, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at Wash- 
ington, D.C.. June 6, '64. 

Smith, Herman J. : age 27, res. Sandwich, mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65 : trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Southey. John: age 22, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent wounded, .Inly 30, '65; no later information. 

Stevens. Alden W. ; age 21, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '61: trans, to 
V.RC, Aug. 26, '64; dis from 59th Co. (Sergt.) Aug. 23, '65; recent 
address, Soldiers' Home, Togus. Me. 

Sterner. Matthew: age 24, res. Easthampton, mustered Feb. 18, '61: dis. disa- 
bility Aug. 25, '64; record since dis. unknown: address unknown. 

Stock. Henry : age 22, res. Hancock, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of service 
July 30, '65; record and res. since discharge unknown. 

Sullivan. John: age 29, res. Worcester, mustered Feb. is, v, I ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65: death reported, no date. 

Sweet, Daniel J. : age 18, res. Williamstown, mustered Feb. 18, '64: dis. order 
War Dept. Oct.:'., '64: by order Of the President; pardoned for desertion 

Turner. William A. : age 26, res. Belmont, mustered Feb. 20, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice .July 30, '65: trans, from 59th June 1. '65: pres. address unknown. 

Twiss, James P.: age 31, res. Longmeadow, mustered Feb. 18, '64; died at 
Washington, D.C., Aug. 2, '64. 

Wade, Charles H. ; age 18, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 20, ^4; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June I, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Watts. George : age 23, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. is. '64; died at Citj 
Point, Va.. Jul] 22, '64. 

Wilkins, Aaron: age 42, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, to 38th 

Co., 2d Bat'n, V.R.C. ; pro. Corp., dis. April 7. '65; death reported Aug. 

5, '87. 
Wilkins, Henry A : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered Feb. 18, '64; trans, to 

Co. <!. I oil i V.B C. Oct. I, '64; dis. order War Dept. July 26, '65; death 

reported, do date. 

Willoughby, Edward R. : aire 88, res. Wobiirn. mustered Feb. 20, '64; dis. e\. 
of service Julj 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1. '65; recent address. 
Wobiirn. MaBB. 

West. Charles: age 22, res. Leominster, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 59th 
June L,'65; dis. Mas 15, '65, order War Dept.; did QOl join the 57th; 
record and address Bince, unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 475 



COMPANY G. 

Vaughn, Smith, 1st Sergt. : age 28, res. Lawrence, mustered March 4, '64; 
clis. ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; record and 
residence since dis., unknown. 

Burke, Cyrus H., Sergt. : age 31, res. Topsfield, mustered April 21, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; record and res- 
idence since dis., unknoAvn. 

Carter, Elbridge, Sergt. : age 22, res. Wayland, mustered March 4, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; recent address, 
Cochituate, Mass. 

Ewell, Frederick H., Sergt.: age 21, res. Marshfield, mustered March 10, '64; 
dis. ex. of service in Co. K, July 30, '65; recent address, Marshfield, 
Mass. 

Hutchins, Henry E., Sergt. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Jordan, Thomas G., Sergt.: age 24, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; 
clis. disability Jan. 25, '65; pres. address unknown. 

Trowbridge, Charles A., Sergt. : age 36, res. Northborough, mustered March 
10, '64; dis. order War Dept. June 19, '65; record since, unknown. 

Allen, Alfred M., Corp.: age 19, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; rec. since, unknown. 

Corson, Abraham, Corp. : age 35, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Fales, Henry M., Corp. : age 23, res. Holden, mustered March 10, '64; killed at 
Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Hamlin, Charles, Corp.: age 2] , res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; pres. residence, 1155 Wilcox St., Chicago, 111. 

Trefry, John, Corp. : age 25, res. Lynn, mustered March 4, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65 ; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address unknown." 

Tuttle, John E., Corp. : age 39, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; killed 
at Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. The son of this man resides on Wash- 
ington Ave., Waltham, Mass., named Charles Tuthill, and claims that 
his father's name was "Tuthill," instead of "Tuttle," but the Adjutant- 
General's records show that he signed his name "Tuttle." 

Welsh, Daniel, Corp. : age 21, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. 
of service July 30, '65; address for some time after clis., Springfield, 
Mass., at present unknown. 

Worthy, William, Corp.: age 18, res. Williamstown, mustered March 10, '64; 
dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address since, unknown. 

Dearborn, George E., Mus. : age 18, res. Taunton, mustered March 4, '64; dis. 
ex. of service, July 30, '65; trans, from 59th June 1, '65; pres. address 
unknown. 

Rodier, Lewis, Mus. : age 15, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service in Co. C; record and address since, unknown. 

Adams, Charles O. : age 19, res. New Braintree, mustered March 10, '64; dis. 
disability Jan. 14, '65; record and address since, unknown. 



476 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Barton, Chas. H. : age 27. res. Hartley, mustered April 6. '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; record anrt address since, unknown. 

Bovia Lewis : age 42, res. West Brookfield, mustered March 10, '64 ; died in 
Washington, D.C., July 20, '65. 

Boulett. Fortuna : age 18, res. Spencer, mustered March 10, '64 : dis. for disa- 
bility May 30, '65; former address, Spencer, Mass. 

Bourne. William S. : age 18, res. Pittsfield, mustered March 10, '64; killed in 
battle of the Wilderness May 6, '64. 

Brown. Charles M. : age 18, res. Winchendon, mustered March 10, '64; died 
May 14, '64; place and cause unknown. 

Bullard, Charles: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65; recent address 14 Birch St., Worcester, Mass. 

Burgess. Abraham : age 31, res. Somerset, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
y'.tth June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Butler. John D. : age 18, res. Newbury, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Cahill. James : age 21, res. Haverhill, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, 'GH: record and address since, 
unknown. 

Callahan, Thomas: age 38, res. Lawrence, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Cashman. Michael : age 36, res. Somerville, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. of service; record ami address 

since, unknown. 

Champney. Augustus: age 18, res. Adams, mustered March 10, '64; died Aug. 

6, '64, at Richmond, Va., while prisoner of war. 

Charlesworth, David: age 35, res. Holyoke, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
12. '65, ex. of service, absent sick, no later information. 

Cleveland. William E. : age 23, res. Westfield, mastered March lit, '64 : missing 
in battle of Fort Stertinan, Va., March 25, '65; dis. at Annapolis, Md , 
June 2. '65, by General Order No. 77, War Dept. '65; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Connell. Charles: age 26, res. Holyoke. mustered March 10, '64; rtis.ex. of ser- 
vice July 30, '65; record and address since, unknown. 

Connor. Humphrey: age 24. res. Holyoke, mustered March 10, '64; dis. June 
29, '65, by order War. Dept.; record and address since, unknown. 

Cooley. Francis F. : age "jr., res. Sutton, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. July 30, 

'65; by ex. of service ; late residence. Belchertown, Mass. 

Covell. Augustus T. : age 20, res. Gardner, mustered March 10, '64 ; died Sept. 

7. '64, at Annapolis, Mil., of wounds received in battle. 

Covell. John B. : age 18, res. Gardner, mustered March 1(). '64; dis. July 80, 
'65, by ex. <>r Ben Ice, as absent sick, no later Information. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 477 



Curtis, David B. : age 18, res. Douglas, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. July 30, 
'65, by ex. of service, as absent sick, no later information. 

Dailey, Cornelius J. : age 35, res. Orange, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, by ex. of service, recent address, Brushton, N.Y. 

Damon, George B. : age 19, res. Leominster, mustered March 10, '64; deserted 
April 23, '64; no record of bounty; recent address, Leominster, Mass. 

Danyon, Horace : age 21, res. Pittsfleld, mustered March 10, '64 ; died in Wash- 
ington, D.C., July 18, '64. 

Davenport. Elisha C. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; killed in 
battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Day, William : age 19, res. Sprinafleld. mustered March 10, '64; killed in battle 
of the Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. (In Co. C.) 

Donovan, Dennis: age 19, res. Fitchburg, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65, as absent sick, death reported at regimental reunion 
of '94. 

Drake, William M. : age 23, res. Westfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. June 
17, '65 ; by order War Dept. ; record and address since, unknown. 

Ewell, Isaiah A. : age 19, res. Marshfleld, mustei'ed March 10, '64; dis. for dis- 
ability, Co. K, Dec. 2S, '64; pres. address, Marshfleld, Mass. 

Ewell, Melvin : age 26, res. Marshfleld, mustered March 10, '64; trans. toV.R.C. 
and dis. from 23d Co., 2d Batt., Aug. 12, '65; no date of trans.; death 
reported in 1891. 

Fessenden, Thomas : age 18, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64 ; dis. July 
30. '65, by ex. of service; trans, from 59th June 1, '65 ; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Fitzgerald. Garrett: age 21, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. May 23, 
'65, for disability; pres. address, 175 Bridge St., Salem, Mass. 

Fitts, Lyman B. : age 26, res. Marshfleld, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65 (from Co. K), by ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Flagg, William H. : age 29, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. for 
disability June 7, '65; death reported Jan. 1, '71. 

Flanagan, William : age 19, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; killed in 
battle of Wilderness May 6, '64. 

Fleming, John: age 30, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. by order 
War Dept., July 3, '65 ; record aud address since, unknown. 

Fletcher, Lorenzo: age 19, res. Northboro, mustered March 10, '64; died in 
Washington, D.C., May 10, '64. 

Fogerty. Andrew: age 39, res. Somerville, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Foss, Charles H. : age 39, res. Woburn, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. of service; recent address, 
Woburn, Mass. 

Frelick, Charles W. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64 ; died from 
wounds received in battle, in Washington, D.C., June 27, '64. 



478 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Fuller. Moses F. : aire 28, res. Sherborn, mustered March 4, '04; trans, from 
59th June 1. "65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '05; lecord and address 
since, unknown. 

Gaskell, John N. : age 37, res. Douglas, mustered March 10, '64; killed in battle 
of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 'G4. 

Goff, Frederick E. : age 18, res. Westfteld, mustered March 10, '04; dis. July 
30, '65, by ex. of service; death reported at Westfleld, Mass., Aug. 10, '95. 

Gubbins, Michael: age 21, res. Littleton, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '05, by ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown, 

Hadley, Cyrus: age 40, res. Leominster, mustered March 10, '64: deserted Feb. 
1, '65, from Dale Gen. Hosp., Worcester, Mass.; no later record. 

Ham, John : age 21, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; deserted April 23, '64; 
bounty juniper; no later record. 

Harvey, John F. : age 22. res. Medlield, mustered March 4. '61: trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, as absent sick; no later information. 

Hawkins, Luther C. : age 42. res. Dudley, mustered March 10, '64; dis. for 
disability June 19. '65; death reported in '75. 

Hayes, James: age 24, res. Abington, mustered March 1. '0 1 : trans, from 59th 
June 1. '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. of service; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Hillard, Joseph H. : age 1(». res. Rockport, mustered March I, '04 i trans, from 
59th June 1. '65 ; dis. for disability June 10, '65 ; record and address since, 

unknown. 

Hood. Thomas R. P.: age 2!), res. South Reading, mustered March I. '64; 
trans, from 59th June I, '65; dis. by ex of service July 30, '65; record 
and address since, unknown. 

Horton. Joseph : age 25, res. Chicopee, mustered March 10, '64; died June 2, 
'64, in Washington, D.C, cause unknown. 

Hyde. William: age L8, res. Somerville, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, by ex. Of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Hume. Robert: age L8, res. Cambridge, mustered March I, '64; trans, from 
59th June i. "65; dis. July 30, '65, by reason of ex. of service; record 
and address since, unknown. 

Kehoe. Mark: age 35, res. Dedham, mustered March 1. '64; trans, from 59th 
June i. '65; dis. ex. of service, as absent sick, Juh 30, '65; no later 
informal ion. 

Kennedy, Patrick: age 27. res. Abington, mustered March I. '64; trans, from 
.v.uii June I, '65; dis. July 20, '65, for disability; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Kimball, Herman: age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered March I, '64; trans, from 
b June i '65; dis. .iui\ 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 

since, unkiiow n. 

Laley, Frank: au< 28, res. Hinsdale, mustered March lo. '64; dis. June i, '65, 
order War Dept. pris. of war) ; record and address unknown. 



ENLISTED MEN. 479 



Lashua, Frank: age 21, res. Hinsdale, mustered March 10, '64; killed May 6, 
'64, in battle of the Wilderness. 

Lee, Dennis: age 44, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '04; died of wounds 
received in action Sept. 7, '64, in Washington, D.C. 

Leland, Abner A.: age 44, res. Douglas, mustered March 10, 'G4 ; died in 
Petersburg, Va., June 22, '64; cause unknown; probably of wounds re- 
ceived in action. 

Leslie, James: age 28, res. Hinsdale, mustered March 10, '64; died March 25, 
'65, at Petersburg, Va., of wounds received in battle. 

Lewis, Timothy H. : age 18, res. Fitchburg, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Westport, N.H. 

Leyden, Daniel: age 24, res. Abington, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65 ; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Longfellow, Theodore: age 24, res. Somerset, mustered March 4, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65 ; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service ; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Lord, Alvin : age 22, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Lowe, James : age 34, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; clis. July 30, '65, ex. 
of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Mallet, Masial : age 20, res. West Brookfleld, mustered March 10, '64; died May 
20, '64, at Washington, D.C. 

McCarthy, Dennis : age 33, res. Abington, mustered Feb. 24, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; clis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Melvin, Michael: age 19, res. Northampton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service, as absent sick; no later information. 

Miller, Wallace T. : age 22, res. Abington, mustered March 10, '64; dis. (cause 
not stated) Jan. 25, '65, in Co. K; present address, Rev. W. T. Miller, 
Springfield, Mass. 

Monahan, Daniel: age 35, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; deserted 
April 3, '64; no record of bounty; no other information. 

Monroe, George A. : age 20, res. Grafton, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. June 21, 
'65, order War Dept. ; record and address since, unknown. 

Morrissey, John : age 25, res. Uxbridge, mustered April 6, '64; dis. May 22, '65, 
order War Dept. ; died March 17, '92. 

Morrissey. Martin : age 43, res. Billerica, mustered Feb. 4, '61 ; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65 ; dis. May 22, '(^5, order War Dept. ; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Moulton, N. Austin: age 41, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; clis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Brimfield, Mass. 

Mountain, Lewis: age 22, res. Douglas, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service ; recent address, Douglas, Mass. 



480 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Mulstead, Richard: age 40, res. Southboro, mustered March 10, '64: killed .May 
24, '64, in battle of North Anna River, Va. 

Needham, James N. : age 28, res. New Braintree, mustered March 10, 'G4 : (lis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service in Co. K; recent address. New Braintree, 

Ma's-. 

Nettleton. Joseph S. : age 21, res. Stoneham, mustered March 4, 'G4 : trans, from 
59th June 1, '05; dis. July 28, '65, by order War Dept.; record ami ad- 
dress since, unknown. 

O'Connor, Daniel F. : age 18, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65, and dis. July 30, '65, as absent wounded ; no later 
information. 

Parker, Carlos A. : age 26, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
12, '65, by order War Dept. as supernumerary (dis. as corporal) ; record 
and address since, unknown. 

Parker, Roswell : age 42, res. Greenfield, mustered March 4. '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Patterson. James W. ; age 19, res. Worcester, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Aug. 
8, '65, by order War Dept.; record and address since, unknown. 

Phelps, Oscar B. : age 23, res. Leominster, mustered March 10, '64 : dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service, record and address since, unknown. 

Pike. Horace S. ; age 18, res. Leicester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. as Sergt. 
June 21, '65, by Order No. 77 War Dept., A.G.O., 1865, as supernumerary, 
by reason of consolidation; recent address, No. 12 Townseud St., 
Worcester, Mass. 

Pulsifer, George S. ; age 24, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. for disability June 9, '65, by order War Dept.; 
record and address since, unknown. 

Putnam. Rufus E. ; age 18, res. Pittsfield, mustered March 10, '64 ; trans, to Co. 
II. 9th V.R.C., Jan. 21, '65; dis. July 21, '65: record and address since. 
unknown. 

Ramsdell, Cyrus R. : age 18, res. Wilbraham, mustered March 10, '64 : died in 
Washington, D.C., Oct. 17. '64, from wounds received in battle. 

Reed, George E. : age 19, res. West Stockbridge, mustered March in. '64; killed 
in battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, '61. 

Richmond, Jason H. : age 19, res. Holyoke, mustered March L0, '64 | dis. July 
80, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Robinson, Francis A. : age 22, res. Dorchester, mustered March 4, '64; trans. 
from 59th June L,'65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and ad- 
dress since, unknown. 

Roe, Patrick M. : age 23, res. Sharon, mustered March I. '64 ; trans, from 59th 
June ]. '65; dis. for disability July 11, '65: record and addreS8 since, un- 
known. 

Rosette, Victor: imr :':',. res. South Hadlev, mustered March 10, '64; died in 
Washington, D.C , Maj 16, '64, cause unknown. 

Rumney. Edwin E. : age 21, res. Springfield, mastered March 10, '64; dis. as 
Sergt. .1 nl \ 80, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 481 

Sargent, Simon B. : age 34, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. Aug. 
8, '65, by order War Dept. ; pres. address, 215 Pleasant St., Worcester, 
Mass. 

Seuce, Lewis: age 21, res. Gloucester, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Shehan, Timothy : age 24, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Smith, Frank : age 19, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; deserted April 
23, '64; bounty jumper; no later information. 

Smith, Thomas : age 43, res. Boston, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. Aug. 10, '65, order War Dept. ; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Soulie, Frederick: age 31, res. Northampton, mustered April 6, '64; trans, to 
Co. D, 19th V.R.C.; dis. as Sergt. July 31, '65, ex. of service; record 
and address since, unknown. 

Stackpole, Charles A. : age 31, res. Boston, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th Mass. June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and resi- 
dence since, unknown. 

Starr, Joseph J.: age 34, res. Westfield, mustered March 10, '64; died of 
wounds received in battle at Petersburg, Va., June 17, '64. 

Stevens, Charles: age 21, res. Haverhill, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Stevens, James H. : age 19, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Sullivan, Daniel: age 24, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. as 
Corp. May 25, '65, order War Dept. ; present address, Fitcnburg, Mass. 

Sullivan, George : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Taft, Alfred C. : age 21; res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; deserted 
April 25, '64, and enlisted for three years under the name of George 
Jennings, May 14, '64, in Co. B, 11th Conn. Vols.; deserted from this 
regt. in front of Petersburg, Va., July 5, '64; surrendered to Provost 
Marshal at Worcester, Mass., March 28, '65, as of Co. G, 57th, dis. with 
Co., ex. of service, July 30, '65; received bounty for enlistment in 57th, 
but no record to show what the State of Conn, paid him; this record 
of desertion is from War Dept. in Washington ; no additional informa- 
tion as to how he served his country, and no record of his career after 
discharge. 

Thompson, Andrew C. : age 18, res. Pittsfielcl, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Tierney, Francis : age 38, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; di . July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Towner, John E. : age 22, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64 ; deserted April 29, 
'64; Vet. of Co. G, 1st 111. Vols.; record and address since desertion 
unknown ; bounty jumper. 

31 



482 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Waite, Charles H. : age 19, res. Charlton, mustered March 10, '64; killed in 
battle of Wilderness, May 6, '64. 

Wakefield, Wendell P.: age 25, res. Reading, mustered March 4, "64; trans, 
from 59th June 1. '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Wallwork, John B. : age 19, res. Chelsea, mustered July 20, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address 
since, unknown. 

Welch, Patrick : age 28, res. Dedham, mustered March 4, '64 ; trans, from 59th 

June 1,' 65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address since, 

unknown. 
Welch, John: age 20, res. Hingham, mustered May 16, '64; trans, from 59th 

June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and address since, 

unknown. 

White, Albert : age 20, res. Grafton, mustered March 10, '64 ; deserted April 17, 
'64; bounty jumper ; no later record. 

White, Goss : age 28, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. June 16, '65, 
order War Dept. ; record and address since, unknown. 

White, John : age 22, res. Brookline, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of service 
■Inly 30, '65; record and address since, unknown. 

White, John : a.i>e 23, res. Winchcndon, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dishonorably dis to date from May 24, '65. per Special Order 
No 161. War Dept. A. G.O., dated Aug. 26, '65; held in confinement in 
Philadelphia County Jail, Pa., by the civil authorities ; charge unknown, 
linal disposition of the case unknown; record and address since, 
unknown. 

Wilcox, George H. : age 18, res. Pittsfleld, mustered March 10, '64: dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Willard. James J. : age 19; res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64: killed in 
battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Wing, Joseph : age 31, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; deserted April 
23, 'i',| ; no later information. 

Woodman, Horace F. : age 18, res. Newbury, mustered March I, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; record and address since, unknown. 



COMPANY II. 

Allen, Dwight D., 1st Sergt. : aire 26, res. Worcester, mustered .Ian. 11, '64; 
killed .Inly 80, '64, in battle of Crater, or Mine Kxplosion, in front of 
Petersburg, Va. 

Chase, Charles S., 1st Sergt.: age 22, res. Worcester, mustered .Ian. 11, '64; 
dis. ex. of Bervice Julj 30, '65 : record and residence since, unknown. 

Park. William c, ls1 Sergt.: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. LI, '64; 
died Jan. 81, '65, while a prisoner of war at Danville, Va. 

Bond, Herbert W.. Sergt.: age 18, res. WestborOUgh, mustered .Ian. 11, '64; 

killed in battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, - 64. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 483 

Connolly, William, Sergt. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
ex. of service July 30, '65; residence soon after, No. 9 Grafton St., 
Worcester, Mass. 

Fox, Patrick W., Sergt. : age 21, res. Athol, mustered Jan. 11, '64; trans, to 
58th Co. V.R.C., dis. Aug. 24, '65; residence and record since, unknown. 

Sargent, Charles A., Sergt. : age 21, res. West Cambridge, mustered March 12, 
'64; trans, to 57th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record 
and residence since, unknown. 

Stone, Henry D., Sergt. : age 19, res. Waltham, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
to 57th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence after dis., 
409 Atlantic Ave., Boston, Mass. 

Tourtelott, George W., Sergt. : age 19, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service ; residence, Kansas City, Mo. 

Ames, Jacob, Corp. : age 40, res. Woburn, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence after dis., 
Woburn, Mass. 

Bullard, Ira B., Corp. : age 26, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died May 24, 
'64, at Fredericksburg, Va., of wounds received in action. 

Carr, Joshua W., Corp.: age 18, res. Marlborough, mustered March 12, '64; 
trans, from 59th June 1, '64; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence 
since, Marlborough, Mass. 

Connell, Terrence O., Corp. : age 30, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; 
trans, from 59th June 1, '65; dis. for disability from Moore Gen. Hosp., 
Philadelphia, Penn., Aug. 29, '65; residence and address since, unknown. 

Foster, Walter R., Corp. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, as Sergt., ex. of service; died in Worcester, Oct. 23, '79. 

Garrison, Henry, Corp. : age 25, res. Brookline, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence and 
address since, unknown. 

Howe, Willard P., Corp. : age 39, res. Bedford, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65 ; dis. Aug. 5, '65, order War Dept. ; record and res- 
idence siuce, unknown. 

Park, Henry L , Corp. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; killed in 
battle of North Anna River, Va., May 24, '64. 

Patch, George E., Corp. : age 20, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; trans, 
to Co. K, 10th regt. V.R.C., March 25, '65; dis. order War Dept Sept. 
14, '65; residence, Chandler St., Worcester, Mass. 

Perkins, Uriah, Corp.: age 27, res. Woburn, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; latest address 
reported, 21 School St., North Woburn, Mass. 

White, Joseph, Corp.: age 21, res. West Boylston, mustered March 10, '64; 
killed May 18, '64, in battle of Spottsylvauia Court House, Va. 

Wilson, Charles H., Corp. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
May 26, '65, order War Dept.; record and residence since, unknown. 

Willard, George W., Corp. : age 34, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died 
of wounds received in battle Sept. 18, '64. 



484 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Young. Charles E., Corp.: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; 
killed in battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Kelly, Michael, Mus. : age 18, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; record and resi- 
dence since, unknown. 

Spencer, David F., Mus.: age 30, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence soon after, 12 Washington Sq., 
Worcester, Mass. 

Ainsworth. Otis D. : age 22, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. May 18, 
'65, order War Dept.; record and residence since, unknown. 

Aldridge, George E. : age 23, res. Hopkinton, mustered March 12. '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence, Upton, 
Mass. 

Anderson, James G. : age 18, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. July 
30, "65, ex. of service; recent address, Boston, Mass. 

Arnold, Nathan S. : age 26, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. July 1. '64, 
order of Gen. Dix. 

Atkinson, Charles O. : age 24, res. Lynn, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. Aug. 10, 'C)3^ order War Dept.; record and resi- 
dence since, unknown. 

Bailey, Rasson : age 20, res. Sherborn, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service to date from July 30, '65, absenl 
wounded; no later information. 

Barrett, John : age 28, res. Boston, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; latesl residence known. 
Worcester, Mas-.. 

Binney. Joseph H. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '61; dis. Aug. 
10, '65. order War Dept.; now practicing physician at Fullerton, Nance 
( 'oiinty, Nebraska. 

Bowen. Isaac: age 33, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11. '(',( ; dis. July 30, '65, 
e\ of service; record and address since, unknown. 

Bowen. Michael: age 21, res New Braintree, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. May 
9, '65, order War Dept.; record and residence since, unknown. 

Boyd, John : age 21, res Brookline, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 59th 
June i. '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; record and .residence since, 
unknown. 

Brown. George A. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '6 I: dis. May 22, 
'65, order War Dept.: pres. residence, Salem St., Worcester, Mas-. 

Brown. John S : age 32, res. Atlml. mustered Jan. 11. '64; dis. July 1. '64, 
order of Gen. Dix; pres. residence, Atlioi. Mass. 

Bullard. John L. : Bge I". res. Holliston, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65; missing May 12, '64; no later information. 

Burredge, George w. ; age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan; LI, '64; dis. ex. 
of service Julj 80, '65; record and residence since, unknown. 

Caldwell. William M. : age 28, res Fitchburg, mustered Jan. 11. '64; killed in 

battle of Wilderness, Maj 6, '64. 



ENLISTED MEN. 



485 



Clarke, Hcrace, Jr. : age 35, res. Palmer, mustered Jan. 23, '64; died April 29, 
'64, from sunstroke, while on the march with the regiment in Virginia. 

Coleman, Richard, Jr. : age 22, res. Charlestown, mustered March 12, '64 ; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '05; dis. Aug. 10, '65, order War Dept.; residence 
since, unknown. 

Connors, Thomas : age 30, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service, as absent; died July 15, '67. 

Cummings. Joseph L. : age 38, res. Spencer, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Aug. 8, 
'65, by order War Dept.; residence since, unknown. 

Doane, Amos L. : age 44, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. June 9, '65, 
order War Dept. ; present residence, 146 Beacon St., Worcester, Mass. 

Donavan, Jeremiah : age 1'.'. res. Stoneham, mustered April 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, 'C>5; dis. July 30, '65, order War Dept.; residence since, 
unknown. 

Ellick, Eli A. : age 18, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 11, '64; filled in battle 
front of Petersburg, Va., June 17, '64. 

Emerson. George W. : age 33, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died Aug. 
27, '64, at Andersonville, Ga. (prisoner of war). 

Evans, Joshua : age 30, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. May 12, '65, 
order War Dept. ; residence since, unknown. 

Ewing, Albert S. : age 26. res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; killed in battle 
of Wilderness", Va., May 6, '64. 

Fitts, Charles A. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died May 12, 
'64, of wounds received in battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Fitzgerald, John: age 34, res. Dudley, mustered Oct. 31, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

Fogerty. Edward J. : age 20, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; present address, Vine St., Worcester, Mass. 

Fox, James: age 19, res. Cambridge, mustered March 4, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, uukuown. 

Gates, Daniel C. : age 45, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 6, '65, 
order War Dept. ; residence since, 90 Portland St., Worcester, Mass. 

Geer, Edward D. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service ; residence since, unknown. 

Gleason, Charles W. : age 23, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; no date of 
dis. or later information. 

Graves, Stephen W. : age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, 
unknown. 

Grout, John E. : age 33, res. Spencer, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 1, '64, 
order of General Dix; death reported in 1875. 

Guillette, Hyacintha : age 21, res. Chelsea, mustered March 12, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. to date from July 30, '65, absent wounded; no 
later information. 



486 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGEtfEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Gurney, Thomas E. : age 2f, res. Newburyport, mustered March 12, '64 ; trans, 
from 5i)th June 1, 'G5 ; must, out with Company July 30, '65; death 
reported Jan. 17, ''J2. 

Hair. Charles N. : age 32, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Aug. 25, 
v,4, for promotion; 1st Lieut. 4th Mass. II. A.. Aug. 12. '64; lion. must. 
out June 17, '65; died Oct. 19, '90. 

Handley. John: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11. V,4 ; killed May 6, 
'64, in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

Hastings. Barney: age 19, res. Boston, mustered March 12, '64: trans, from 
59th June 1. '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Holbrook, Phineas L. : age 27, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65, absent wounded; late residence, Cherry Valley, 
Mass. 

Horton. James B. : age 28, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

Hoyt. Henry A. F. : age 10. res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. ex. of 
service July 30, '65, absent wounded; pres. address. Rev. Henry 
A. F. Hoyt. "Hospital of the P.E. Church. Philadelphia, Pa. 

Hutchins. Fred. P. : age 43, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Aug. 10, 
'65, order War Dept. ; pres. address, Putnam, Conn. 

Johnson. James T. : age 19, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died June L6, 
'64, in Washington, D.C. 

Johnson. Joseph J. : age 18, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11. '64: died May 12. 
"ill, of wounds received in battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Jordan. Martin L. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64: died in 
Washington, D.C, July 18, '64: cause unknown. 

Kendall. William P.: age 31. res. Woburn, mustered March 12. '64; trans. 
from 59th June l. '65; dis. .Inly 3D, '65, ex. of service: recent address 
Woburn, Mass. 

Kilpatrick. Joseph: age 21. res. Woburn. mustered March 12. '61 ; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65; dis. to date July 30, '65, absent sick. 

Ladaux, Isaac: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered .Ian. 11, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service: residence since, unknown. 

Leonard, Charles H : age 22, res. Groton, mustered Jan. LI, '64; died May 6, 
'64, of wound- received in battle of the Wilderness, Va. 

Leonard, Daniel A. i age 19, res. Rutland, mustered Jan. 11. '64; died Sept. 9, 
•64, al Danville, Va. i prisoner of war . 

Lincoln, George T. : age 23, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. to date 
July 30, '65, absent wounded ; do later Information. 

Little. John : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. , inly 30, '65, 
ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

Loomis, Rodney D : age 31, res. Mlllbury, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Sepl . L2, 
65, disability ; pres. address, Mlllbury, Mass. 

Lord. Henry T. : age 33, res. Woburn, mustered March 12. '64; trans, from 

59th June I, '65; dis. July 80, '65, ex. of service; veteran of Co. G, 5th 

M;i-.s. 9 months I : residence since dis.. unknown. 



ENLISTED 3IEX. 



487 



Lovering. Samuel M. : age 40, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '6-1; killed in 
battle of Wilderness, May 6, '64. 

Manville, Patrick H. : age 18, res. Leicester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; killed May 
24, '64, at battle of North Anna River, Va. 

Marshall, James A.: age 25, res. Worcester, mustered Jan 11, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, North Leominster, Mass. 

Mathews, Eli: age 34, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

McCormick, Michael: age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. to date from July 30, '65, ex. of service, as 
absent wounded. 

Merriam, Henry: age 30, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. June 17, 
'G5, order War Dept. ; record and residence since, unknown. 

Merriam, Horace: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Sept. 30, 
'64, on surgeou's certificate of disability ; pres. address, No. 51 Stevens 
St., New Haven, Conn. 

Mills, Isaac M. : age 26, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Aug. 8, '65, 
order War Dept.; address soon after, Southbridge St., Worcester, 

Mass. 

Mourin, Michael : age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, un- 
known. • 

Murry, Andrew: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; must, out July 
30, '65 ; absent as prisoner of war since July 30, '64 ; no discbarge 
ever- given : no later information from War Dept. ; at present unknown. 

Nichols, Nathaniel: age 33, res. North Reading, mustered March 12, '64; trans. 

from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service, absent sick; no 

later information. 
Paine, John A. : age 38, res. Sutton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died Sept. 15, '64, 

Avhile prisoner of war, at Andersouville, Ga. 

Parker, Marshall: age 27, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Feb. 21, 
'65, order War Dept. ; residence since, unknown. 

Pickens, John: aa;e 38, res. Stonebam, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1^ '65 ; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65 ; since unknown. 

Pierce, John, Jr. : age 28, res Hopkinton, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, M35 ; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, un- 
known. 

Puffer, Jonathan: age 39, res. Holliston. mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. June 17, 
'65. order War Dept.; Vet. Co. K, 43d Mass. ; residence since discharge, 
unkuown. 

Raymond, James H. : age 45, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Aug. 
10, '6.5. order War Dept. ; death reported May 23, '79. 

Reed, Thomas R. : age 33, res. Springfield, mustered Jan. 25, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65. ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

Ricker. Albert M. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; pres. residence, Boston Highlands, Boston, Mass. 



488 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Richardson, Lewis: age 18, res. Leominster, mustered Jan. 11, '64; killed May 
6, '64, in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

Rice, William H. : age 34, res. Oxford, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. May 25, '65, 
order War Dept. ; pres. address, Worcester, Mass. 

Richards, William E. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died in 
Worcester, Mass., March 16, '6H. 

Robinson. George A. : age IS, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 
5, '65, order War Dept.; recent address, Meriden, Conn. 

Rollins, Stephen H. : age 18, res. Spencer, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. Sept. 12, 
'64, on surgeon's certificate of disability; residence since, unknown. 

Ryan, John: age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan 11, '64; dis. June 29, '65, 
order War Dept. ; death reported March 18, '67. 

Savage. Henry G. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; trans, to Co. 
I, 2d V.R.C., Feb. 14. '65: dis. order War Dept., July 22, '65; pres. res- 
idence, 127 Indiana St., Chicago, 111. 

Sharp, Charles: age 25, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; trans, to 38th, 
Co. ('. 2d Battalion, Y.R.C., March 4, '65; dis. Aug. 11, '65, order War 
Dept ; residence since, unknown. 

Shamboo. Christopher, age 18, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, July 30, '65, absent wounded; no later information. 

Shamboo, Edward: age 21, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 11, '64: dis. July 30, 
165, ex. of service; pres. address, Wilkinsonville, Mass. 

Sheern, Dennis: age 18, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. May 15, '65, 
order War Dept.; death reported in 1891. 

Short, Frank: age 24, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '61 ; dis. July 30. '65, 
ex. of service, absent sick ; no Later information. 

Skinner. James M. : age 34, res. Dorchester, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1. '65; dis. July 22, '6."), order War Dept. : since unknown. 

Smith, Eugene : age is, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, 'ill; killed May 6. 
'64, in bailie of the Wilderness, Va. 

Sprague, Amos: age 24, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, 'til: dis. July .".<>, 
'65, ex. of .service: \eler;iu of Co. 1). 15th .Mass., from July 12. '61, to 
April 15, '62: death reported Jan. 20. '90, 

Stetson, James M. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '61: died of 
wounds received in battle. May 31, '64. 

Stockwell. Warren H. : age IS. res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 11, V.I: dis. July 
30, '65, ex, <>r service; res. since, unknown. 

Streeter Hiram: age 88, its. Leicester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; killed June 17, 
'64, in batl le before Petersburg, Va. 

Sullivan. Michael: age 81, res. W:i\ bind, mustered March 12. '61; trans, from 
59th June I. '65; dis. June 21. '65, disability: since unknown. 

Taft. Edward P.: age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. n. '64; dis. May 
24, '65, order of War Dept. ; pres. address, 17 Austin St., Worcester. Mass. 

Temple. Andrew A. : age 19. res. Ilopkiulon. mustered March 12, '64; trans. 
from "''Mb June I, '66; dis. ex. of service, July 80, '65; since unknown. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 489 



Timon, Charles: age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; death reported in '86. 

Tourtelott, Thomas J.: age 25, res. Millbury, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. 
disability Aug. 3, '65; pres. address, Millbury, Mass. 

Wakeman, George M. : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service, absent wounded; no later information. 

Walton, Edward A. : age 28, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died Aug. 
10, '64, while a prisoner of war at Andersonville, Ga. 

Watkins, Henry A.: age 26, res. Hopkinton, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Webb, Joseph C. : age 32, res. Grafton, mustered Jan. 11, '64; died Aug. 18, 
'64, in Philadelphia, Pa., cause unknown. 

Wellman, Charles W. : age 37, res. Woburn, mustered March 12, '64 ; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, 
Montville, Mass. 

Wellman, George H. : age 19, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. as 
corporal to date from July 30, '65, ex. of service, absent Avounded ; 
no later information. 

Wellman, John F. : age 18, res. Worcester, mustered Jau. 11, '64; dis. June 16, 
'65, disability; death reported in '76. 

Welch, Thomas: age 32, res. Cambridge, mustered March 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65: dis. to date from July 30, '65, ex. of service, absent 
pi'isoner ; no later information. 

Whittier, William T. : age 18, res. Haverhill, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, 
Haverhill, Mass. 

Wilson, Charles B. : age 32, res. Stoneham, mustered March 12, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Williams, John S. : age 23, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. to date 
from July 30, '65, ex. of service, absent sick; no later information. 

Woodcock, Isaac A : age 21, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. June 
2, '65, order War Dept. ; pres. address, No. 20 Clarkson St., Worcester, 

Mass. 

Wood, George H. : age 24, res. Worcester, mustered Jan. 11, '64; dis. June 9, 
'65, disability; recent address, Cambridge St., Worcester, Mass. 



COMPANY I. 

McFarland, Edwin D., 1st Sergt. : age 31, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, 
'64; trans. Feb. 17, '65, on account of wounds, to V.R.C.; dis. order 
War Dept. June 19, '65 ; pres. residence, 117 Thomas St., Worcester, Mass. 

Tyler, Titus, 1st Sergt. : age 27, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; dis. 

July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address unknown. 
Breed, William J ., Sergt.: age 18, res. Lynn, mustered April 2, '64; trans. 

from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, 

Northampton, Mass. 



490 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 

Holmes. Thomas F., Sergt.: age 19, res. Charlestown, mustered Jan. 5, '64; 
trans, from 59th June 1, '65; dis. .July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent 
address, Watertown, Mass. 

Karpeles, Leopold. Color Sergt. : age 23, res. Springfield, enlisted in Co. A, 
46th Mass. Inf., August, '62, Corporal of the Color Guard; dis. ex. of 
service, July 29, '63; must, as Sergt. Co I, 57th Mass. Inf., March 10, 
'64 : dis. disability May 7, '65. Received medal of honor, April 30, '70, 
for gallantry in battle of Wilderness, Va. ; received testimonials from 
Colonel, Lieut. -Colonel and Major of 46th Mass. for soldierly bearing and 
conspicuous bravery while in that regt. Pres. residence, 1609 7th St., 
V \\\. Washington, D.C. 

Ober. George K., Sergt.: age 20, res. Southampton, mustered March 10, '64; 

dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. residence, Bakerstield. Kern 

County, Cal. 
O'Donnell, James. Sergt.: age 25. res. Marlborough, mustered April 2, '64: 

nans, from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. 

address, Medway, Mass. 

Burke, Hugh, Corp.: age 26, res. Marlborough, mustered April 2. "64; trans. 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65; ex. of service; since unknown. 

Brennan, John W., Corp. : age 27, res. Harvard, mustered April 2, '64 : trans. 

from 59th June 1, 'Go7 dis. June 13, '65, by order War Dept.; since 

unknown. 
Cullitin, Pierce, Corp. : age 34, res. Shelburne, mustered March 10, '64; dis. Dec. 

26, '64, for disability; pres. residence, Chautauqua, X Y. 

Chambers, James K., Corp. : age 18, res. Hancock, mustered March 10. '64; 
dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address unknown. 

Gallup. Henry C. Corp. : age 24, res. Dalton. mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; receul address, Dalton. Mass. 

Green, George A., Corp. : age 43, res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. Aug. 
4. '6.">. order War Dcpt.: pres. residence unknown. 

Gould, Harvey W.. Corp. : age 18, res. North Brookfield, mustered April 6, '64 ; 

dis. May 22, '65, order War Dept.: death reported, date unknown. 

Moore, Charles E., Corp.: age 24, res. Lee, mustered March L0, '64; trans, to 
V.l! ( '. : no date of trans, or dis : death reported in '92. 

Nason, Edward A., Corp.: age 23, res. Georgetown, mustered April 2, '64; 
trans, from 59th .June L, '65; dis. July 22, '65, order War Dept.: since 
unknown. 

Olds. William G.. Corp.: age 2"',. res. West Stockbridge, mustered March 10, 
•i; i: died of wounds received in battle May 8, '64 battle of Wilder- 
ness). 

Whiten, Henry, Corp.: age 19, res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64; trans, to 
V.R.C., date and dis. unknown: no later Information. 

Holmes. Loren S., Mus. : age 41, res. Washington, mustered April 6, '64; dis. 
July 30, '<'••">. ex. of service; erroneouslj reported as having died in Phila- 
delphia in '64 ; residence since discharge, unknown. 

Jones, Robert M.. Mus.: age 18, res. Holliston, mustered April l\ '64; trans. 
,m 69th June i. '65; dis, Ma] •.".». '65, order War Dept.; recent address, 
i Itchburg, Mass 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 491 

Lacount, Emerson B.. Mns. : age 15, res. Leicester, mustered March 6, '64; 
tl&trans. to V.R.C. April 15, '65; dis. July 21, '65, order War Dept. ; since 
unknown. 

Agnew, Henry: age 23, res. Harvard, mustered April 6, '64; deserted April 17, 
'64; bounty jumper; not heard from since (supposed to be an assumed 
name). 

Archibald, William D. : age 24. res. Chelsea, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Beckwith, Joseph H. : age 24, res. Pittsfield, mustered March 10, '64; reported 
missing in action Aug. 19, '64; no later information. 

Bolton, Henry : age 26, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64 ; deserted 
March, '64; no record of bounty and no later information. 

Bonner, James : age 22, res. South Hadley. mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. June 3, 
'65, order War Dept. ; residence since, unknown. 

Breman, Luke : age 24, res. North Marlboro, mustered March 10, '64; deserted 
March, 1864; no record of bounty and no later information. 

Briell, Albert E. : age 20, res. Southampton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. Dec. 
17, '64, for disability; since unknown. 

Brown, John : age 29, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. May 20, '65, 
for disability; since unknown. 

Bullock. Amasa R. : age 19, res. Adams, mustered March 10, '64; reported 
missing in action May 24, '64 ; probably killed or taken prisoner in battle 
of North Anna River. 

Baker, Daniel : age 18, res. Pittsfield, mustered April 6, '64 ; killed in battle of 
the Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Bowe. George D. : age 18, res. Pittsfield, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of seiwice; since unknown. 

Burrows, Peter A.: aire 44. res. West Stockbridge, mustered March 10, '64; 

reported missing in action May 6, '64 ; probably killed or taken prisoner 

in battle of the Wilderness. 
Carroll, Edward: age 44, res. North Marlboro, mustered March 10, '64; trans. 

to Co. H, V.R C, Dec. 7, '64; dis. July 26, '6^, order War Dept.; death 

reported, date not known. 
Carney, Thomas: age 42, res. Danvers, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 59th 

June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Cardwell, William : age 40, res. Cambridge, mustered April 2, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. absent sick, to date from July 30, '65; no later 
information. 

Chapman, Ralph: age 42, res. Hancock, mustered March 10, '64: dis. Aug. 8, 
'65, order War Dept. : residence since, unknown. 

Church, Horace: age 18, res. Richmond, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Clark, James : age 25, res. Millbury, mustered April 6, '64 ; deserted with bounty 
April 17, '64; not heard from since. 

Clayton, George: age 30, res. Beverly, mustered April 2, '64: trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date from July 30, '65; 
no later information. 



492 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Clifford, John H. : age 19, res. Brookline, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, 'Go, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Connor, Cornelius: age 18, res. Brighton, mustered April 2, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Collins. Dennis: age 19, res. Washington, mustered March 10, '64; trans, to 
Y.ll.C. (no date) and deserted from 2d Co., 2d Batt., July 27, '65. Reported 
in letter from Company Commander on file in office of A.G., Boston. 
Record and residence since, unknown. 

Calvert, William H. M. : age 19, res. ; mustered April 2, '64: trans, from 

59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service: since unknown. 

Connelly, John: age 41, res. Conway, mastered April 6, '64; dis. Sept. 3, '65, 
order War Dept. ; since unknown. 

Conway. Thomas: age 35, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; killed May 
24, '64, in battle of North Anna River, Va. 

Crowe, John : age 21, res. Westboro, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 30, '65, ex. 
of service (erroneously reported as having died while prisoner of war at 
Andersonville, Ga.) ; died at Boonville, Mo., Aug. 1, 1879. 

Crowley, John W. : age 30, res. Holliston, mustered March 10, '64: (lis. July 30, 
'65, in Co. II; res. since, unknown. 

Culliton, Patrick: age 29, res. Sterling, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, to date from July 30, '65; no later information. 

Curtin. Timothy: age 23, res. No. Marlboro, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Monterey, Berkshire County, Mass. 

trans, from 

HOW 11. 



Dacy, Jeremiah: age 21, res. Tyngsboro, mustered April 12, '61 
59th June I, '^^>: dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service: since link 

Daniels, John G. ; age 43, res. Chicopee, mustered March 10, '64; trans, to 
V.R.C. Sept. 30, '64: no record of dis. and no later information. 

Denio, Joseph : age 19, res. Gill, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no later information. 

Dooley, Thomas : age 19, res. Middlefleld, mustered March 10, '64; died, July 
24, '64, cause of deatli unknown. 

Dwyer, Michael: age 19, res. Maiden, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service ; pres. address. Hill city. Pennington County, So. Dakota. 

Elkins. William G. 2d ; aire 21, res. Southampton, mustered March 10, '64 : dis. 
ex. of service, absent sick, to date. Inly 30, '65; no later Information. 

Ellis, James W. : age 21, res. Gill, mustered April 12,'64; trans, from 59th 
June I, '65; dis. Jul\ 30, '65, ex. of service: since unknown. 

Elliott. Sumner: age 18, res. W rent ham. mustered April 12, '64; trans, from 

59th June l. '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; ao 
later Information. 

Fisher, Andrew C. : age 21, res. Mauley, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th Jane L, '65; dis. Julj 30, '65, ex. of service ; since unknown. 

Fisher. Francis M. : age 21, res. Mauley, mustered April 2, *64; trans, from 
59th June L,'65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '66; 
no later Information. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 



493 



Fortin, Joseph : age 19, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 6, '64, 
in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

Foster, James B. : age 29, res. Palmer, mustered March 10, 'G4 ; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service in Co. E. ; death reported, date unknown. 

French, Albert V. : age 23, res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64; dis. June 2, '65, 
order War Dept. ; residence since, unknown. 

Gavin, George : age 33, res. Adams, mustered Aug. 1, '64; dis. July 30, '65, ex. 
of service ; record and address siuce, unknown. 

Goodwin, Cyrus T. : age 34, res. Newburyport, mustered April 2, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Gover, John: age 18, res. Millbury, mustered March 10, '64; dis. Jan. 21, '65, 
for disability; since unknown. 

Haley. Martin: age 37, res. Northampton, mustered March 10, '64; died at 
Beverly, N.J., Oct. 10, '64. 

Hardy, Elmer J. : age 20, res. Easthampton, mustered March 10, '64; died May 
7, '64, of wounds received in battle of Wilderness, Va., May 6, '64. 

Hardy, Marshall G. : age 22-, res. Southampton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. to 
date July 8, '64, order War Dept. ; residence since, unknown. 

Hayward, William A. : age 36, res. Roxbury, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65 ; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service ; since unknown. 

Horton. Winslow T. : age 19, res. Gloucester, mustered April 2, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Houlihan. John: age 45, res. Chicopee, mustered March 10. '64; died at 
Annapolis, Mel'., March 21, '65: cause of death unknown. 

Howard, William F. : age 19, res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64; died Feb. 
23, '65, while pris. of war at Danville, Va. 

Hunt. Ephraim W. : age 21, res. Marlboro, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65, and dis. ex. of service, absent wounded, to date July 
30, '65 ; no later information. 

Hunt, Alva A. : age 20, res. Pittsfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. May 16, '65, on 
account of disability ; pres. address, Pittsfield, Mass. 

Jameson. George: age 33, res. West Stockbridge, mustered Aug. 1, '64; killed 
Oct. 8, '64, in front of Petersburg, Va. 

Jenne. William L. : age 22, res. Lenox, mustered March 10, '64; dis. June 9, 
'65, order War Dept., as William L. Jennie; pres. address, Lenox, Mass. 

Jones, Charles : age 41, res. Stockbridge, mustered March 10, '64; killed May 6, 
'64, in battle of Wilderness, Va., in Co. D. 

Kinney. George W. : age 37, res. Uxbridge, mustered March 10, '64 ; died Sept. 
29, '64, at Beverly, N. J. ; cause of death unknown. 

King, Hugh: age 33, res. Cambridge, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; death reported Nov. 10, '93. 



494 



FIFTY-SEVENTH KEGIMEXT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



King. John: age 21, res Hadley, mustered March 10, '64; deserted March 18, 
'64 : no record of bounty ; no later information. 

Lado. Leander: age 42, res. Cambridge, mustered Feb. 20, '64: trans, from 59th 
June 1. '65, as "missing in action May 12, '64": no later information. 
Probably killed or taken prisoner in battle of Spottsylvania Court House, 

Va. 

Laha, John : aye 31, res. Cambridge, mustered April 2, 'C4; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service July 30, '65; since unknown. 

Lahan. Michael : age 21, res. Lawrence, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Lallay. Michael: age 21, res. Milford. mustered March 10, '64; dis. Tan. 21, '65, 
by order War Dept. ; late residence, Westboro, Mass. 

Lavanthal, Lewis : age 38, res. Westford, mustered Aug. 6, '64 ; trans, from 59th 
June 1. '65; dis. July 19, '65, on account of disability; since unknown. 

Lawrence, William: age 25, res. Boston, mustered April 2. '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

Legrave. Adolphus : age 18, res. Gill, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no later information. 

Loud. William H. : age 24, res. Savoy, mustered March 10, '64; died Aug. 1. '64. 
at Philadelphia, Pa. ; cause of death unknown. 

Macken. Michael : age 21, res. Charlestown, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65: dis. Aug. 8, '65, by ordei War Dept. ; since unknown. 

Maguire, William : aire 19; res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
by order War Dept.; recent address. Westboro, .Mass. 

Mayo. Frank: age 28, res. Fitchburg, mustered March 10, '61: deserted March 
16, '64; no record of bounty and no later in formation. 

McDaniels. William: age 19, res. Lanesboro, mustered Sept. 6, '64; dis. Dec. 
23, '64, on account of disability ; Vet. Co. I, 49th Mass.: pres. address, 

Lanesboro. Mas-.. 

McGlinley, John : aye 41, res. Shelburne, mustered March L0, '64; dis. July 30, 

'(;.".. by order of War Dept.: no later Information. 
McMan. Thomas S. : aye 35, res. Marlboro, mustered April 22. '•'>!: trans, from 

59th Jane 1. '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

McRam. Francis : age 32, res. Stonehain. mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th Jane l. '65: dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '66; no 
later information. 

Masters. John: aye , res. , mastered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 59th 

June 1. '64; dis. ex. of service, absent wounded, to date July 30, '65; no 

Inter information. 

Miller. Alfred B. : aye 18, res. Wales, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. June 11, '65, 

by order War Dept.; since unknown. 

Moore. William K.: aye 22, res. Worcester, mu-uercd April (I. '64; died of 

wounds received in battle, at Beverly, N.J.. Nov. 22, '64. 

Moran, Francis: age 88, res, Cambridge, mustered Jan. 12, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65; dis. July 80, '66, e\. ■ >! service; since unknown. 



ENLISTED MEN. 



495 



Myers, Sylvester: age 42, res. Northampton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. for 
disability Dec. 27, '64; residence since, unknown. 

Noble, Cyrus H. : age 19, res. Ware, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. of ser- 
vice, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no later information. 

O'Neill, Patrick: age 18, res. Lynn, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65: dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no 
later information. 

Palmer, William H. : age 18, res. Methuen, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Perro, Joseph: age 23, res. Whately, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Pepoon. Newton B. : age 18, res. Stockbridge, mustered March 10, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, unknown. 

Powers, Andrew: age 21, res. Adams, mustered March 10, '64; dis. for disa- 
bility Nov. 28, '64; residence since, Passaic, N.J. 

Rathburne, Charles: age 37, res. Stockbridge, mustered March 10, '64; died in 
Co. D; date of death and cause unknown. 

Rene, Joseph: age 22, res. Cambridge, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent wounded, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

Reno, Louis: age 19, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, to date July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Reubeo, Joseph: age 22, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, 'Go, dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no 
later information. 

Rodgers, Mial A.: age 25, res. Newbury, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

Rodgers, Timothy W. : age 21, res. Newbury, mustered April 2, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Ross, Edward: age 26, res. Granby, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 12, '64, 
in battle ofSpottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Russ, Charles D. : age 28, res. Weymouth, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Haver- 
hill, Mass. 

Russell, James S. H. : age 26, res. Lynn, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Lynn, 
Mass. 

Ryerson. Roswell G. : age 21, res. Greenwich, mustered April 2, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Sancomb, David : age 18, res. Gill, mustered March 10, '64; killed May 24, '64, 
in battle of North Anna River, Va. 

Sanguinette, John B. : age 24, res. Blackstone, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30. 
'65 ; uo later information. 



496 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Sanborn, William M. : age 18, res. Charlestown, mustered April 2, '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1, 'Go; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Schafer, George J. : age 42, res. Stockbridge, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. for 
disability May 23. '65; since unknown. 

Sedell. Charles: age 32, res. Northampton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Northampton, Mass. 

Simmons, Ensign J.: age 21, res. Washington, mustered March 10, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Windsor, Berkshire Co., Mass. 

Shaw, George W. : age 44, res. Great Barrington, mustered April 6, '64; killed 
Oct. 8, '64, during siege of Petersburg, Va. 

Shelly. Michael: age 18, res. Great Barrington, mustered March 10, '64; killed 
May 6, '64, in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

Snow, John: age 31, res. Millbury, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service; recent address, 29 Siegel St., Worcester, Mass. 

St. Antoine, Gilbert : age 28, res. Shelburne, mustered March 10, '64 ; killed 
May 18, '64, in battle at Spottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Stanley, Michael: age 22, res. Middlefleld, mustered March 10, '64; killed May 
6, '64, in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

Stedman, James S. : age 22, res. Lee, mustered March 10, '64; killed in battle 
of Wilderness, Va , May 6, '64. 

Stevens, Romanzo : age 21, res. Richmond, mustered March 10, "64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, West Stockbridge, Mass. 

Sullivan, Daniel: age 24, res. Worcester, mustered March 10, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; recent address, Fitchburg, 
Mass. 

Sullivan, William: age 21, res. Stoneha.m, mustered April 2. '64; trans, from 
.'.'.Mil Jane I, '65; dis. ex. <>f service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

Thomas, Charles: age 26, res. Brookline, mastered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65; (lis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date .Inly 30, 
'65 : no later information. 

Thornton, Patrick: age 28, ivs. Pittsfleld, mustered March In. '64; died May 18, 
t,i, of wounds received in battle. 

Trask, Isaac P. : age 18, res. Taunton, mastered April 2. 'ill : Iran-, from 59th 
June I. '•'>•">: dis. ex. of service, July 30. '65; residence since, unknown. 

Walker, Benjamin: aire 18, res. Cambridge, mustered April 2, '64; trans, from 
59th June i. '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; residence since, 

unknou n. 

Waters, John: age 23, res. Middlefleld, mustered March 10, '64; killed in battle 
before Petersburg, Va., June 17. '64. 

Webster, Silas D. : age 20, res. Richmond, mustered March In, 'i;| : dis. May 11, 
'65, order War Dept., cause unknown; no later information. 

Welch. Nathaniel: aire 88, ces. Pembroke, mastered April 2, '64; trans, from 

59th J • I. '65; dis. July 80, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Kxeter, 

N II 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 497 



Wheeler. Otis E. : age 22, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 6, '64, 
in battle of Wilderness, Va. 

White, George E. : age 18, res. Millbury, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; pres. address, No. 6 North Lake St., Chicago, Ill- 
Head of the extensive hard wood lumber firm of George E. White & Co., 
Chicago, 111. Director of Chicago National Bank. Has served as alder- 
man in Chicago, and State Senator in Illinois. Has exerted a large 
influence throughout the State, and elected a member of the 54th Con- 
gress from Illinois, by a large plurality. 

Wheeler, Warren W. : age 37, res. Holliston, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, West Medway, Mass. 

Wilcox, George W. : age 24, res. Great Barrington, mustered March 10, '64 ; died 
June 11, '64, of wounds received in battle. 

Williams, Wesley R. : age 21, res. Lee, mustered March 10, '64 ; dis. Oct. 30, '65> 
at Boston, Mass., on Surgeon's certificate of disability, amputation of 
right leg caused by wounds received in battle; dis. as IstSergt.; pres. 
address, Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington. 

Williams, George W. : age 44, res. Boston, mustered Feb. 20, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick; no later infor- 
mation. 

Woodville, William: age 27, res. Springfield, mustered March 10, '64; clis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Wright, Charles : age 40, res. Adams, mustered March 10, '64; dis. May 30, '65, 
for disability; since unknown. 

Writer, Orion E. : age 20, res. Hadley, mustered March 10, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service; since unknown. 

Young, Daniel N. : age 20, res. Dalton, mustered March 10, '64; dis. May 29, 
'65, order War Dept., cause unknown ; no later information. 



COMPANY K. 

Kelly, Theodore L., 1st Sergt. : age 30, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; 
dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, 614 East Fifth St., South 
Boston, Mass. 

Shaftoe, William, 1st Sergt. : age 40, res. West Springfield, mustered April 6, 
'64; dis. June 13, '65, order War Dept. ; pres. address, Fall River, Mass. 

Brigham, George H., Sergt. : age 18, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; 
dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass. 

Calvey, George B., Sergt. : age 34, res. Cambridge, mustered Jan. 7, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

McEver, Hugh, Sergt.: age 30, res. Boston, mustered April 21, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Oakes, William F., Sersjt. : age 19, res. Bernardstou, mustered April 6, '64; 
taken prisoner at Fort Stedman, March 25, '65; dis. at Annapolis, Md., 
June 2, '65; per General Order 77, War Dept., A.G.O. '65; pres. 
address, Fitchburg, Mass.; veteran of previous service; organization 
unknown. 

32 



498 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Hill, Joseph W. Corp. : age 26, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. 
Jul}- 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Charlestown, Mass. 

Lowell, Frank H., Corp. : age 20, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64 : dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, Bangor, Maine. 

O'Callaghari, Timothy, Corp. : age 20, res. Marlborough, mustered April 21, 
'64; trans, from 59th June I, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since 
unknown. 

Pickett, George T., Corp. : age 30, res. Boston, mustered April 6. '64; dis. June 
13, '65, order War Dept. ; pies, address, 17 Otis St., Boston, Mass. ; 
veteran 49th Mass. 

Pratt, Edwin, Corp. : age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Richardson, Charles E., Corp. : age 10, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '04; 
trans, from 50th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent 
address, Woburn, Mass. 

Smith. George H., Corp.: age 18, res. Boston, mustered April 21. '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1, '65; (lis. July 30, '65, ex. of service. 

Wyman, Arthur B., Corp. : age 19, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '<;t ; trans, 
from 50th June 1, '65; dis. July 15, '65, order War Dept.; cause 

unknown; no later information. 

Buxton, Marcus M., Mus. : age 18, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '64; trans. 
from 50th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; recent address, 
Chicago, 111. 

Harley, Thomas, Mus.: age Is, res. Dedham. mustered April 21. '64; traus. 
from 50th June 1, '65; reported as having deserted May 23, 'til ; no later 
information. Possibly killed or taken prisoner 

Adams, John : age 36, res. Oakham, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 30, '65, 
ex. of service; since unknown. 

Allcott. Frank : age 18, res. Newton, mustered April 6, '64; < lis. June 19, '65, 
order War Dept. ; cause unknown ; no later information. 

Allen, Henry: age 18, res. Ludlow, mustered April <<. '64; dis. ex. of service, 
absent sick, to date July 30, '65 ; no later in format ion. 

Andrews. William: age 21. res. Millhury, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absenl wounded, to date July 30, '65; no later information. 

Antoine, Louis: age 2:;. res. Brookline, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 

59th June 1. 'C5; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, 
'(',5 : no later in format ion. 

Armstrong, James : age 30, res Charlton, mustered April r., '64 : deserted with 
the bounty, April L7, '64; do later information. 

Barnes, Joseph W. : age 25, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Aug. 
8, '65, order of War Dept.; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass.; veteran 
h Mass.; cause of discharge unknown. 

Beggs. Charles: age 18, res, Woburn. mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June l. '65; di>. JuU 30, '66, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Bemis, Amasa B. : age 35, res. Chester, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 80, 
ex. of sen Ice ; death reported in '83. 



4 
ENLISTED MEN. 



499 



Benton, George W. : age 43, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '(54; died May 
12, '64, of wounds received in battle. 

Bigelow, Theodore S. : age 37, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; dis. June 5, 
'65, order War Uept. ; cause unknown; no later information. 

Boise, Daniel : age 32, res. Southbridge, mustered April 6, '64 ; obtained- the 
bounty and deserted April 17, '64; no later record. 

Bowers, Edwin F. : age 26, res. Stoneham, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

Bradley, John S. : age 35, res. Roxbury, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, 'i'>r> • dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Brooks, James P. : age 26, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64 ; died at 
Alexandria, Va., July 14, '64; cause of death unknown. 

Bushnell, Levi B. : age 36, res. Hinsdale, mustered April 6, '64 ; deserted April 
20, '64; bounty jumper : no other record. 

Byam, Salathial A. : age 38, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; killed June 17, 
'64, in battle before Petersburg, Va. 

Cadagan, Michael: age 19, res. Worcester, mustered April 6, '64; died at 
Washington, D.C.. Aug 6, '64, of wounds received in battle. 

Carleton, Hubbard: age 34, res. Shelburne, mustered April 6, '64 ; died June 1, 
'64; cause unknown. 

Chapman. Henry C. : age 21, res. Hancock, mustered Sept. 10, '64; dis. June 
16, '65, order of War Dept. ; cause unknown; no later information. 

Coley, Michael: age 29, res. Roxbury, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65^ dis. July 15, '65, order War Dept.; cause unknown; no 
later information. 

Daniels, Charles L. : age 19, res. Pittsfield, mustered April 6, '64; died July 29, 
'64; cause and place unknown. 

Daniels, Lowell: age 18, res. Pittsfield, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 18, 
'64, in battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Dean, Samuel: age 44, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; clis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Doolittle, William H. : age 22, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; clis. June 6, 
'65, order War Dept.; recent address, Northfield, Mass.; cause of dis- 
charge unknown. 

Dow, Albert W. : age 19, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 6, 
'64, in battle of Wilderness. 

Downing, Robert E. : age 18, res. Egremont, mustered April 25, '64 ; trans, 
from 59th June 1, v 65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Dunbar, Thomas F. : age 37, res. Southborough, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. 

July 18, '64, disability; since unknown. 
Eaton, John, Jr.,: age 34, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; died May 

30, '64 ; cause and place unknown. 



500 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Ennis, William : age 27, res. Boston, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; clis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65 ; 
no later information. 

Exley, Edward W. : age 18, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. July 

30, '(!5, ex. of service; since unknown. 
Fairfield, John H. : age 40, res. Windsor, mustered Feb. 29, '04 ; dis. July 30, 

'65, ex. of service; since unknown. 
Foley. Michael: age 25, res. Boston, mustered April 21, ''54; trans, from 59th 

June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Gallagher, Thomas: age 18, res. Boston, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 

59tn June 1,'65; dis. ex. of service, absent sick, to date July 30, 

'65 : no later information. 
Gildea, Charles M. : age 18, res. Newton, mustered April G, '64; dis. July 30, 

'65, ex. of service; since unknown. 
Gill, Henry L. : age 26, res. Holyoke, mustered April 6, '64; trans, to Co. I, 2d 

V.R.C. ; dis. July 22, '65, order of War Dept. ; record and address since. 

unknown. 
Gouch, Edwin J. : age 44, res. Pittsfield, mustered Sept. 1, '64; dis. Aug. 8, '65, 

order War Dept. ; cause unknown ; no later information. 

Goulding, Henry C. : age 34, res. Northborough. mustered April 6, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service, as absent on detached service; pres. address, 
No. 2020 State St. Chicago, 111. 

Gregory, Henry A. : age 34, res. Chicopee, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Nov. 27. 
'64, disability; since unknown. 

Gregre, Phillip: age 25, res. Marlborough, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Hart. David A. : age 19, res. Adams, mustered April 6, '64; died July 14, '65, at 

Philadelphia; cause unknown. 
Harrington, Francis M. : aire 20, res. Boylston, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 

20, '65, order War Dept.; pres. address, Northborough, Mass. (Veteran 

53d Mass.) 
Harris. John J.: age 19, res. Charleston n. mustered April 21. '64 ; trans, from 

59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Hayward, Wesley F. : age 19, res. Chicopee, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Heath. Gilford P.: age 21, res. Northborough, mustered April »',. '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Northborough, Mass. Veteran 
51s1 Mass. I 

Hayward, Elijah B. : aire 42, res. Chicopee, mustered April 6, "f',4 : dis. May 18, 
>;;<. order War Dept.; since unknown. 

Holyoke, Eugene J. : age 2l\ res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Muy 
27. '»,."), disability ; death reported, date unknown. 

Holyoke. Samuel H. : age 39, res. Marlborough, mustered March 31, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; death since reported, date unknown. 

Hopkins, Sterling A: age 36, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; mortally 
wounded and died a] Wilderness battlefield May 6, '64. 

Howe, Albert W : age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, 64; mortally 
wounded and died upon battlefield a1 the Mine Explosion, or "Crater," 
,lul\ 80, '64. 



ROSTER — ENLISTED MEN. 



501 



Howe, Sanborn O. : age 18, res. Marlborough, mustered April G, '6-4; dis. ex. 
of service, absent wounded, to date July 30, '65; no later information; 
pres. address, Hudson, Mass. 

Hurley, Michael: age 19, i - es. Fitchburg, mustered Jan. 14, T>j ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Hyzer, Henry J.: age 18, res. Brookline, mustered April 21, '64; traus. from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Kimball, Oliver S. : age 30, res. Adams, mustered April 6, '64 ; died June 25, '64, 
in Co. D ; cause and place not known. 

Laberman, Charles: age 19, res. Hinsdale, mustered March 31, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65 ; no later information. 

Laclere, Zotique : aee 19, res. Stoneham, mustered April 21, '64 ; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. disability, June 7, '65, order War Dept. ; cause 
unknown ; no later information. 

Lambert, Charles: age 21, res. North Reading, mustered April 21, '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Lee, Smith J. : age 20, res. Grafton, mustered April 8, '64 ; dis. Sept. 16, '65, 
order War Dept. ; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass. 

Lewis, Charles A.: age 18, res. Roxbury, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Feb. 17, 
'65, disability; since unknown. 

Loud, Charles Q. : age 21, res. Westborough, mustered March 23, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Northborough, Mass. 

Lovely, Frank: age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Lynch, Hugh F. : age 18, res. Stoneham, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Mahan, Dallas P.: age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, 99 Grafton St., Worcester, Mass. 

Mahan, Roger: age 21, res. West Roxbury, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Marsh, Jeremiah W. : age 32, res. Westborough, mustered April 6, '64; died 
May 6, '64, on battlefield of Wilderness, Va., of wounds received in battle. 

Mason, Alonzo R. : age 40, res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Maynard, Isaac G. : age 42, res. Marlborough, mustered in April 6, '64; dis. 
March 18, '65, disability: died Aug. 8, '93. 

McCarthy, Callaghan : age 25, res. Marlborough, mustered April 21, '64; trans, 
from 59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

McOsker, Owen : age 40, res. Lowell, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65. ex. of service; since unknown. 

Merriam, Francis J. : age 26, res. Chelsea, mustered April 21. CI ; trans, from 
59th June 1, "65 : dis. July 7, '65, disability; since unknown. 

Merritt, John: age 21, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Miller. Andrew J. : age 22, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; dis. Aug. 10, '65, 
order War Dept. ; since unknown. 



502 FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT .MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Miller. John A.. Jr.: aye L8, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; (lis. July 30, 
'65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Mitchell. Charles : age 21. res. Springfield, mustered April 6, '64; dis. ex. of 
service, absent sick, to date July 30, '65; no later information. 

Mitchell, John F. : age 18, res. Grafton, mustered April 6. '64; trans, to Co. E, 
21th V.R.C ; dis. July 24. v,.i. order War Dept. ; pres. address, Grafton, 
Mass. 

Morse, Charles S. : age oTJ. res. Boston, mustered March 21, '64; died Nov. 30, 
'ill : cause and place of death unknown. 

Nolan, Maurice H. : age 27. res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '<14 : dis. June 
12. '65, order War Dept.: recenl address, San Diego. California. 

Ordway, William D. : age 21. res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '65; dis. 
.May 22. '65, order War Dept.: pres. address, Hudson. Mass. 

Page. Robert A. : age 28, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. Aug. 10. '65, 
order War Dept. : cause unknown; no later information. 

Parsons. George C. : age .".'.». res. Worcester, mustered Sept. 1. '64; dis. June 
Mi. '65, in Co. D, order War Dipt. ; cause unknown ; no later information. 

Perry, Henry H. : age 10. res. Marlborough, mustered April (1. '64; died April 9, 
'65, of wounds received in battle. 

Phelps, Stephen H. : age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 0, "64; died Aug. 

26, '64, while prisoner of Avar at, Andersonville, Ga. (Starvation and 

exposure.) 
Pike, William: age 39, res. Gill, mustered April 6, '64 ; dis. Jul\ 30, '65, ex. of 

sen ice i veteran 4th Vermont) ; residence since dis., unknown. 

Pond. Erastus W. : age 22. res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 
:;n. '65, ex. of service: since unknown. 

Prentiss. William. Jr. : age 20. res. Holyoke, mustered March 24. '64: died June 

June 18, '64, of wounds received in battle. 
Pindee. John: age 21. res. South Hadlcy. mustered April 21. "ill: trans, from 

59th June l. '65; dis. ex. of service, absent wounded, to date July 30, '65 ; 

no later information. 

Rand, Ebenezer : age 42. res. Stow, mustered Aug. 20, '64; trans, from 5!)th 
June 1. '65; dis. July ::<>. '<',;,. ex. of service : since unknown. 

Rawson. Lester W. : age 28, res. Greal Barrington, mustered April 6, '64; killed 
June 17. '64, in battle before Petersburg, Va. 

Rice. Edwin C. : age IK. res. Marlborough, mustered April <I. '64; killed June 
22. '64, during siege of Petersburg. Va. 

Richards. John H. : age 20, res. Richmond, mustered April ('.. "CI: reported as 
•■missing in action May 6, '64, in Co. 1." probably killed or taken 

prisoner In battle of Wilderness; no later Information. 
Richardson. Gustavus : age is. res. Northborough, mustered April 6, '64; died 

July 2:.. '64, al Philadelphia", Pa \ cause unknown. 
Rice. Lucien B. : age 20, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 30, 

'65, ex. of service ; pie- address, Pittsfleld, Mass 

Ripley , Willard : age 31, res. Southbrldge, mustered April •'>. '64; obtained 
bounty and deserted \prii 17, '64; uo other information. 



ROSTER— ENLISTED MEN. 503 



Rogers, John B. : age 30, res. Newton, mustered April 6, '64; died July 26, '(It. 
of wounds received iu battle. 

Sargent. Henry: age 28, res. Northborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. June 

21, '65, order of War Dept. ; pres. address, Northborough, Mass. 

Schneider, Edward M. : age 18, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; died June 
19. '64, of wounds received in battle. 

Sinclair, Henry C. : age 30, res. Shelburne, mustered April 6, '64; deserted 
April lit. '64; bounty jumper; no other record known. 

Smith, Herbert O. : age 26, Westborough, mustered April 6, '64; died May 24, 
'65, effects of wounds received in battle. 

Smith, John: aye 20, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; dis. (from Co. G) 
July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Smith, Vernon: age 25, res. Boston, mustered April 11, '64; died March 9, '65, 

while prisoner of war at Anclersonville, Ga. 
Spear, Benjamin A. : age 25, res. Boston, mustered April 6, '64; dis. June 9. 

'65, order War Dept. ; cause unknown ; no later information. 

Stevens, Ira W. : age 19, res. .Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. June 6, 
'65, order War Dept. ; cause unknown; no later information. 

Stickney, Lafayette : age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. June 

22, '65, order War Dept. ; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass. 

Stowe, George H. : age 19, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; killed May 
18, '64, in battle near Spottsylvania Court House, Va. 

Strong, Franklin F. : age 18, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. July 
30, '65, ex. of service; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass. 

Thaley, Dominick : age 33, res. Roxbury, mustered April 21, '64, trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Thomas, John : age 32, res. Lawrence, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65, as " absent, prisoner of war, since May 24, '64," never joined 
57th, but must, out and dropped from the rolls with the final muster out 
of the regiment July 30, '65, ex. of service; no later information. 

Tulley, James: age 24, res. Georgetown, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th June 1, '65; dis. July 30, '65, ex. of service; since unknown. 

Walcott, Thomas W. : age 23, res. Marlborough, mustered April 6, '64; dis. 
July 30, '65, ex. of service ; pres. address, Marlborough, Mass. 

Wells, William: age 22, res. Boston, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 59th 
June 1, '65; dis. ex. of service, absent prisoner, to date July 30, '65; 
no later information. 

West, Milo: age 21, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; died Aug. 4, '64, of 

wounds received in battle. 
Wheeler, Albert C. : age 21, res. Windsor, mustered April 6, '64; dis. April 14, 

'65, order War Dept. ; cause unknown; no later information. 

Whipple, William H. : age 18, res. Boylston, mustered April 6, '64; dis. May 
29, 'G5, order War Dept., on account of injuries received while serving 
with his regiment in the trenches front of Petersburg, Va., July 20, 
'64; pres. address, 87 Thurston St., Somerville, Mass. 

Williams, Daniel: age 26, res. Adams, mustered April 6, '64; deserted April 
17, '64; bounty jumper; latest record. 



504 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Woodruff. John: age 26, res. Southampton, mustered April C. '64: dis. June 
27. '6.3, disability from wounds received in battle, loss of left leg. pres. 
address unknown. 

Wyman. George D. : age IS, res. Woburn, mustered April 21, '64; trans, from 
59th Juue 1, '65 ; dis. July 30. '65, ex. of service : recent address, Woburn. 
Mass. 

UNASSIGNED RECRUITS. 

Berry. Charles R. : age 43, res. Tyngsborough, mustered April 21. "65; trans. 
from 59th, absent sick. June 1, '65, date of dis. unknown: no later 
information; probably never joined the 57th. 

Clark. Benjamin F. : age 27, res. Orange, mustered April 21. '64: deserted May 
1. '64: bounty jumper : no other information (name probably assumed ! ; 
never joined the 57th. 

Crosby. John : age 32: res. Marlborough, mustered April 2. '64; trans, from 
59th, absent paroled prisoner, June 1. '65; no later information: no 
record of having joined the 57th. 

Kittridge. John F. : age 19, res. Beverly, mustered Dee. 5, '63; trans, from 
59th June 1. '65: without remark, no later information: probably never 
joined the 57th. 

Leonard. Frank H. : age 22. res. "Wellfleet. mustered Jan. 14. '64; trans, from 
59th June 1. '<;.-> ; without remark, no later information ; probably never 
joined the 57th. 

McDermott. William: age 21, res. Cambridge, mustered April 21. '64; trans. 
from 59th June 1. '65, but never joined 57th: appointed 2d Lieut, in 51th 
M:i>s. April I. '65; promoted 1st Lieut. July 17. '•;.">; must, out Aug. 20, 
'65; record and address since, unknown. 

Sears. Barnabas: age 43. res. Adams, mustered A.ug. 1. '64; dis. as rejected 
recruit. Aug. 20. '64: no other information ; never joined the 57th. 



Our thanks are hereby extended to E. B. Stiflings for the unselfish inter- 
est he ha- shown in the publication of this work, and for his patient, untiring 
labor. 



jgr 




INDEX 



The figures refer to the number of the page. 

Regiments are indexed under the name of the States to which the}' belom 



Adams, 1st Sergt. Co. G (1st Lieut.). 
293, 295. 

Alexander, Phil., correspondence of, 
2S1, 282. 

Allen, A. S., death of, 379, 380. 

Allen, Dwight D., Sergt. Co. H, 193. 

Airman, Corp. Samuel, Co. C, 156. 

Anderson, Lieut. John (Capt. U.S.A.), 
22, 163, 175, 182, 379, 380; letter of, 
416, 417. 

Anderson, Confederate Gen.. 75, 7f>. 

Andrew, Gov. John A., 3, 9, 10, 11; 
letter of, 52; 155, 215, 234, 357, 385, 
409. 

Andersonville, 317, 319, 345, 347 ; Con- 
fed, report of, 352. 

Anthony, William, 102. 

Association, New England, 332, 333. 

Association, 57th Mass. Regimental, 
356, et seq. 

Barker, 38. 

Barker, Lieut. Charles (Capt.), 60. 

Barlow, Brig.-Gen., 113, 116. 

Barnard. Lieut. Charles E., death of, 
400, 401. 

Badeau, 47 ; Fed. loss in Wilderness, 
125. 

Barnes, Comrade, 377. 

Barnes, Col. J. H., 29th Mass. (Bvt. 
B.G.), 206, 211 ; letter of, 219 et seq. ; 
227, 229, 234. 

Barrett, Uriah, Co. H, 231. 

Bartlett. E. A., death of, 379, 380 

Bartlett, Col. (Gen.) W. F., 1, 4, 9, 
10, 12, 37, 39, 49, 50, 51, 57, 69, 106, 
160; letter of, 161, 2: 177, 179, 183, 
letter of 188 ; do, 193, 198, 203, 204, 
205,208, 209,210, 211, et seq. ; 219, 
220, 221, 226, 227; quoted, 331, 332, 
356, 357, 375, 376; resolutions on 
death of, 360, 361; death of, 384; 
eulogies, life of, 384; et seq., 409. 

Barton, Capt. G. E., 22, 58; letter of, 
91; do 107, 108; do 149, 159, 160, 
163, 175, 176, 182, 299, 310, 357; 
resolutions on death of, 362, et seq. ; 
eulogy and funeral of, 390, et seq. 



Barton. Judge Ira M., 390. 

Bemis, Amasa B., death of, 365. 

Beals, James, poem of, 413, 414. 

Beauregard, Coufed. Gen., 134, 1G8, 
187. 

Bertrand, 38. 

Bigelow, Hon. J. W., 56. 

Bids, Wilbur. 409. 

Bintliff, Col. James, Cornds;. 3d Brig- 
ade, 299, 311. 

Birney, Gen., 98. 

Bliss,' Col. Comdg. 1st Brigade, 180, 
197. 

Boiling, Gen. Stith, Address of, 373. 

Bond, Lieut. 20th Mass., 60 

Boston Journal, quoted, 329, 330. 

Bowles, Rev., 383. 

Bowman, Lieut., Samuel, 4, 93, 159, 
160, 162, 163, 334. 335, 359. 

Brackett, Capt. L. C, 289. 

Breckenrida;e, Confe'd. Gen., 91, 112, 
118, 283. 

Brewnzen, 38. 

Brooke, Brig.-Gen., 113. 

Bross, Lieut.-Col. John A., 187. 

Brown, Absirus, letter of, 92. 

Brown, J. Stewart, letter of, 92. 

Bukardv, George, Pvt. Co. C, 68. 

Bullard, Charles, 376. 

Bullard, Frank W., 371. 

Bullard, Corp. Ira B., 107, 108. 

Burch, Capt. 3d Maryland, 287. 

Burleigh, Asa D., 3U7. 

Burnside, Maj.-Geu. Ambrose (9th 
A.C.), 18, 20, 21, 26, 32, 35, 75. 77, 
79, 80. 81, 82, 89, 109, 117, 119, 125, 
127, 145, 149, 168, 169; plans of, 
170; 171, 172, 173, 174; Order of, 
174, 175; 183, 196, 197, 198,200,201, 
202, 214, 216, 218, 219, 221, 222. 224. 
225; letter of, 226; 229, 230, 329, 
333, 357. 

Butler, Gen. B. F., 72, 91, 112, 252. 

Capelle, Col. William C, Asst. Adjt.- 
Gen., 413; letters of, 416, 418. 

Canada, 2, 189. 

Carter, I. C, 333. 



506 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Carleton, correspondent Boston Jour- 
nal, letter of, 1 17. 

Chandler, II. !•'.. 361, 371. 

Chandler, Lieut. -Col.. 57th Mass., 37, 
18. 39, 50, 51, 84, 92, 102, 10:5. 105, 
inc. 200, 335, 359. 

Chapin, David V. Co. B, 364, 393. 

Chase, Sergl . Co. II. 276, 293, 29;. 

Charity, Sisters of, 158, 159, 347. 

Cheney. 1st Lieut. E. D.. 155, 163, 335, 
359 

Cheney. Corp. F. S.. Co. C, 293, 295. 

Childs, Lieut. J. M.. 6, 56, 68, 334, 335. 

Christ. Col. Comdg. Brig., 137. 139. 

Church, Poplar Grove, battle of, 241, 
s< q 

Churchill, James K., 391. 

Cochran, Capt. Frederick, 368. 

Lieut. K. I.. 4, 143, 144, 335, 359. 

Clark. Capt. 2 1st Mass., 206, 210. 

Clark. Pvt. Horace, 20. 

Clarke. Col. Thomas W , 202, 212,219; 
narrative of Maj. Doherty, 260; ac- 
count of Stedman, 266, 295. 

Club, Union League of N.Y., 333. 

Cold Harbor, Battle of, 110, et seq. 

Commission, christian, 58,59,94, 158. 

Commission, Sanitary. 58, 94, 158. 

Committee, Congressional, Report of, 
200, 201, 202." 

Connecticut, 1st Regt., II. A., 253, 287, 
293, 2d Artillery, 114. 

Congress, Confed. report of, 244. 

Collins, Alon/.o. 409. 

Constitution. 57th .Mass. Regtl. As- 
sociation, 368, ' / seq. 

Cook, Lieut. Bvt. Major) J. II , 6, 
156, 159, L63, 357, 358, 359, 361; in 
memory of Capt. Ban on. 362, et seq. : 
report of By-laws, 368, 371, 373, 
376, 377; eulogy of Gen. Bartlett, 
384, et seq; on death of Gen. Bart- 
lett, 398, 399. 

Cook, Gen. Phil., Confed., brigade of, 
117, 283. 

Cooke, Capt. A. \\\. 264, 299, 303. 

( looper, William, 16. 

Cooley, Bergl . John J., 1 12. 

Coppee, Henry A. M.. quoted, 213. 

( lowdin, Col. Robl ., 395. 

( !rater, Batl le of, 167, ■ t seq. \ notes 
on, i,\ ( ilarke, 203, 1 1 s< ■/. 

i rawford, < len . 75, 1 18. 

Crittenden, Gen., 98, 99, 100, 109, 1 10, 
129. 

Crosby, John, 109. 



Curley, Pvt., 38. 

Cushing, Major, 410. 

Cutler. Gen., 75. 

Daley, Pvt., . 

Dashiell, Chaplain A. II., 38, 69, 36; 

letter of, 105; 146; letter of, 147; 

190; letter of. 192: account of death 

of Maj Doherty. 258; 261, 277: 

quoted, 220; quoted. 314; quoted, 

332; 359, 361, 376, 377. 37s. 379, 380, 

410. 
Dana. Asst. Sec. of War, dispatch of, 

316. 
Davis, Maj. George B.. U.S. Army, 

265. 
Davis, Jefferson, 193: address of, 317; 

319, 321, 322. 327. 331 ; in last ditch, 

351. 
Dale. Surg.-Gen., of Muss.. 109. 
Deaths, list of by Companies. 402, 

et seq. 
Det'ose, 1st Sergt. (2d Lieut.) Charles 

L., 38, l.">6. 
Delaney, Pvt., Patrick, Co. A. 230. 
Derby, Pvt., 38. 
Dewey. 1st Lieut. E. S , 93, 
Dodge, Amos A., death of, 367. 
Doherty. Pvt. Cornelius, Co. G, 245. 
Doherty, Capt. (Major) James, B5, 

123. 145, 239. 21o, 258, 259, 260, 262, 

266, 270, 275, 277, 293, 294, 295, 334, 

335, 359, I 1". 
Doty, Sergt. (1st Lieut.. Bvt. Capl ), 

159, 160, 163, 175, 187,229,231, 24',), 

27^. 333; death of, 393, 407. 
Dresser, Capt. E. T., 177.. 181, 190, 

199, 333, 335, 359, 109. 
Duane, Major, Engineer Corps. LSI, 

! 72 ; report of, 227). 
Duggal, Pvt., 38. 
Early, Confederate Gen., 1 12, 113, 114, 

117, 118, 265. 
Edgecomb, George R., resolutions on 

death of, 357. 
Elbert, Pvt., 38. 
Elliott, Gen. commanding Confederate 

Brigade, 168. 
Ellis, Ubert C, 92. 
Ely, Col., commanding Brigade, 27.2. 

255, 2s:,. 288, 309. 
Everett, Charles F., 64, 55. 
Ewell, Gen. R. s . Confederate Gen., 

25, 38, 76, 90, 96, l 18, 254. 
Examiner, Richmond, quoted, 352. 
Express, Petersburg, 31 1. 
Fitch, 1 lharles, 92. 



507 



Fitchburg in the War, quoted, 345, 

Fitchburg. 358. 

Flags, return of, 344. 

Foster, Walter R., resolutions on 
death of, 364 ; 3G6 ; eulogy of, 392 ; 
in memoriam of, 392. 

Ferrero, Brig.-Gen., 128, 175, lit?. 198, 
205, 210, 218 

Fox, Col. W. F., Fed. loss in Wilder- 
ness, 47: regimental losses, 335, 
336, 337; prison statistics, 348, 349. 
351. 

Fry, Gen. J. B., report of, 337, 338; 
tabular statement of losses. 339. 

Galucia, Capt. W. B , 56th Mass., 56, 
159, 160, 413. 

Georgia, Brigade of, J 87. 

Gibbon, GenT, 116, 307, 316. 

Gird. Capt. J. W r ., 52, 53, 200, 410. 

Girardy, Capt. (Confederate), 187. 

Goddard, Fvt. Wesley D., Co. A, mor- 
tally Avounded, 230*. 

Goodwin, Charles, 366. 

Goodwin, 1st Lieut. (Capt.) Charles 
L., 157, 163 ; resolutions on death of, 
356, 366; eulogy of, 282, 283. 

Gordon, Gen. John B., 76, 81, 117, 247. 
254, 263, 265, 266, 271. 275. 280, 
281, 282, 283, 284, 290, 291, 297. 

Gould, Austin K., 57, 58, 59; descrip- 
tion of Andersonville, 345, et seq. ; 
eulogy of, 397, 398. 

Gould, Major, E. P., 267, 362, 371. 

Gould, Major, J. P. (59th Mass.), 139, 
140, 160, 200, 206. 

Gould, Pvt., 38. 

Grandou, Pvt., 38. 

Grant, Geu. U. S , 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 
46, 47, 49, 50, 71, 72, 80, 118, 119, 
123, 125, 126, 129, 163, 164, 171, 173, 
184; memoirs of, 198; 199, 200, 201, 
222, 237, 241, 252, 298, 298, 299, 300, 
302, 304; despatch of, 308; 309, 313, 
314, 319, 352. 

Great Britain, 2, 340. 

Greene, Lieut. G. S., 123. 

Gresg, Brig.-Gen., 241, 248, 249. 

Griffin, Col , 180, 216. 

Grimes, Warren, resolutions on death 
of, 365. 

Grout, John E., resolutions on death 
of, 359. 

Hall, J. Brainerd, 52, 57, 59, 91, 92, 361, 
365, 378, 380; tribute to Austin K. 
Gould, 397, 398. 

Hall, J. Elmer, 377. 



Hancock, Gen. W. S. (Second Corps), 
26, 33. 35. 36, 50. 7:,, 7s. si. 82, 96, 
119, 120. 127, 128, 1.".:'., 136, 165, 172. 

Hare, Frank, 37 7. 

Harriman, Col. Samuel. 252. 267, 269, 
270, 286, 306. 

Harrinsi'tou, Pvt. Francis M., 191, 192, 
365. 

Harrington, Pvt ., 38. 

Harley, C., death of, 379, 380. 

Harris. Col. 12th Miss.. 102. 

Harrison, Burton N., 319. 

Hastings, Pvt., 38. 

Hatcher's Run, battle of, 247, et seq. 

Ilartranft, Brig.-Gen., 249, 252, 256, 
269. 271, 272, 273. 284. 285, 286, 288, 
289, 292, 298, 306. 

Hawkins, Luther C, resolutions on 
death of, 359. 

Heath, Asst. Surg., 366, poem by, 367 ; 
death and eulogy of, 396, 410. 

Heth, Confederate Gen., 117. 

Higginson, Col. T. W., 415. 

Hill, Confederate Gen. A. P., 25. 36. 
76, 96, 97, 109, 112, 188, 231, 232, 
2 17. 254. 257, 265. 

Hi neks, Gen. comd'g colored troops, 
133, 136. 

History, Medical and Surgical : Con- 
federate loss in battle of Wilderness, 

47, 123. 

Hitchcock, Capt. A. O. (Bvt. Major), 

48, 259, 275, 331, 367, 377. 
Hoke, Confederate Geu., 114. 
Holland, James H., resolutions on 

death of, 359, 383, 384. 
Hollis, Capt. C. D., 59, 60, 61, 62, 357, 

410. 
Hollister, Lt.-Col. E. P., 9, 10, 106. 
Hooker, Maj.-Gen., 333. 
Hopkins, Col. W. S. B., 391. 
Howard, Pvt., 38. 
Howe, Capt. George H., 22, 181, 182, 

188, 189, 199, 227, 333, 335, 359. 
Horrigan, Robert C, 55. 
Humphreys, Brig.-Gen. : Fed. loss in 

Wilderness, 47, 77, 79, 97, 119, 136, 

166 : report of strength of opposing 

armies, 229; quoted, 248; (coindg. 

div. iu Second Corps), 257. 
Hunter, Gen., 118, 120, 128. 
Huts, description of, 243. 
Ide, 1st Lieut. H. M. (Bvt. Capt.) 249; 

resolutions on death of, 365, 402. 
Infantry, U.S. Regular, 4th and 10th 

regiments of, 89, 98, 200. 



508 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Inquiry, Court of, report of, 196, 197, 

200, 201, 202, 203, 225. 
Intrenchments, Federal, description of, 

front of Petersburg, 150, 151. 
Jameson, Pvt. George, 240. 
Jewell, Col. 13th Virginia, 113. 
Jewett, Surgeon, 59. 
Johnson, Coufed. Gen., 77, 81, 284, 

290. 
Johnston, Confed. Gen., 252, 293, 317. 
Jones, Capt., 14th NY. II. A., 205. 
Jones, Charles, 409. 
Jones, Col. H. C. (Confed.), 282. 
Jones, Rev. Henry L., 391. 
Jones, W. E. (Confed.) 118. 
Jordan, E. E., 404. 
Joslyn, Lieut. Henry C, 2G8, 269. 
Karpeles, Ser^t. Leopold, 37, 38, 101, 

105. 
Kautz, Gen., 133. 
Kennay, Lieut., 1G3. 
KershaAv, Confed. Gen., 114, 321. 
Killed (battle of Wilderness), 62, 63. 
Kimball, Gen., 377. 
Kinney, Pvt. George W., Co. I, 230. 
Kir by, Jacob, 409. 
Langdon, Pvt., 38. 
Lappell, Pvt., 38. 
Lawrence, Capt. Levi, 60, 145, 55s ; 

death of, 367; eulogy of, 394, 395. 
Lawry, David F., resolutions, death 

of, 358; 402. 
Leasure, Colonel 100th Penn., 69, 82, 

lor,. 

Ledlie, Gen. J. U.. L29, 137, 162, 174, 
197, 19.s, 200, 2i)2, 20:;. 204, 209, 211, 
212, 213, 211. 216, 217, 220, 221; 
report of, 222, 22:',; 221, 230, 27 1. 

Lee, Fitzhugh, Confed. Gen., ill, 118, 
125, 134 : report of mine, L87; 257; 
account of Fori Stedman, 265. 

Lee, Ccn. R. E . 27. 28, 32, 33, 16, 49, 
:,o. 62, 71. 72, 73, si, 88, 90, '.'1, 95, 
96; telegram of. '.17-. 107, 109. no, 
1 17, 1 18, I2<i, 121, 121. 125. L29, 130, 
112, 15o. 187; report of mine, L88 ; 
232, 2 Is. 252, 265, 279 ; report of 
Si. mIim;, n. 'j.-;;; 293, 300, 310, 313, 
::i I. 315, 316, :;i7, 319, 323. 

Leonard, < iharles EL, 56. 

Letter, <;. EC. B., L54, 155. 

Letter, <:. F, 8., L53, L54. 

Lincoln, A h.ra ha in, 1. 3, L93, 298, 51 I ; 

assassination of, 822, 323 : 329. 

Lincoln, lion. D. Waldo. 10. 

Lincoln, Miss Prances M ., 10, 1 1 . 



Longstreet, Gen. James, 25, 36, 74, 7c, 

115, 114, 232, 247, 254, 265. 
Loring, Colonel, 221. 
Lossing, Historian, quoted, 295, 298. 
Lost Cause, •"•5;;, 
Lovering, Samuel, 92. 
Lowell, Pvt., 38. 
Luchay, Abraham, 93. 
Magazine, the Blue and Gray, 234. 
Magner, 1st Sergt. William, Co. B, 

293, 295. 
Mahone, Coufed. Gen., 187, 188,231; 

address of, 374. .175. 
Maine, 20th Regt. of, 21, 34. 
Maine, 7th Battery, 86. 
Maine 1st H.A., loss in, 335, 336. 
Maloney, Henry C. 56. 
Marsh, GeorgeAV.. 378. 
Marsh, Jeremiah, 378. 
Marshall, Comdg. 2d Brie., 1st Div., 

9th A.C., 177, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 

207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 215,216, 

220, 274. 
Marshall, Lieut. James H. (Bvt. Capt.), 

276, 304, 305 ; resolution, death of, 

378. 
Maryland, 3d Batt. of, 205, 215, 233, 

219, 256. 267, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 

292, 330. 
Massachusetts, Adjt.-Gen., report of, 

240, 334, 335, 336; casualties, Wil- 
derness, 67, 68. 
Massachusetts, 21st Rest, of, 10, 200, 

205, 208, 210, 214. 
Massachusetts, 25th Regt. of, 10. 
Massachusetts, 29th Regt. of , 205, 208, 

212, 214, 220, 233, 266, 269, 272, 276, 

286, 290. 291, 292. 

Massachusetts, 35th Regt. of, 9S. 2oo, 
204, 214. 215. 

Massachusetts, 49th Regt. of, 4. 

Massachusetts, 56th Regt. of, 200, 208, 
214, 215. 

Massachusetts, 57th Regt. of, organi- 
zation, l-il ; 98, 2oo, 205, 208; cas- 
ualties, Wilderness, 62, 63, 64, 66 ; 
do, Spottsylvania C.H., 82, 86, 87, 
90; North Anna River, 103, L04; 
('..Id Harbor, 123; Petersburg (17th 
June), 1 13, 144; to July 30, 163; 
do Petersburg Mine. 185, 186, 187 ; 
do Weition Railroad, 23] ; do Poplar 
Grove Church, 288,; Poplar Grove 
Church 2d, 240j do Fori Stedman, 
262, 263; 384, 555, 836, 557 ; order 
for muster out, 832 ; muster ou1 . 348. 



509 



Massachusetts, 59th Regt. of, 98, 200, 
205, 208, 215, 233, 256, 267, 2G9, 272, 
276, 285, 290, 291, 292, 330; consoli- 
dation, 331. 

Massachusetts, Wright's Light Batt., 
102, 253. 

Massachusetts, 13, 94. 

May, George, 409. 

May, Henry, 409. 

Mathews, Maj., 17th Michigan, 288, 
289. 

McCabe, Mrs., 58. 

McClellan, Gen., 103 ; Irish Brig., 215 ; 
398. 

McFarlaud, Sersyt. E. D., 38, 40, 102, 
138, 149, 157, 376, 377. 

McKibbin, Lieut., 236. 

McLaughlen, Col. (Gen.) N. B., 162, 
203, 233, 249,260, 264, 266, 267, 268, 
269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 278, 284, 
285, 287, 289; report of, 290, 291; 
293, 330, 333, 339 ; death of, 395, 396. 

McMahon, Col., 116. 

Meade, Gen. George G., 26, 32, 33, 78, 
80, 81, 84, 109, 113, 120, 126, 136, 
140, 141, 168, 169, 170; order of, 
171, 172; 173, 174, 179, 182, 187, 196, 
198, 200, 201, 202, 212, 218, 219, 221, 
222, 225, 226, 241, 298; order of, 
303; 305, 308, 309, 323. 

Michigan, 2d Regt. of, 255, 285, 288 ; 
17th Regt. of, 288; 20th Regt. of, 
288; 1st Regt. Sharpshooters, 288, 
309. 

Menioriam. Chapter in, 381, et seq. 

Medals of Honor, 273. 

Miles, Gen. N. A., 331. 

Mills, Pvt., 38. 

Mine, Petersburg (or crater), ex- 
plosion of, 167, et seq. 

Minnesota, 1st Regt. of, loss at Gettys- 
burg, 338. 

Missing, Wilderness, 65. 

Moore, Asst. Adjt.-Gen. H.O., G.A.R., 
414. 

Moore, William A., resolutions death 
of, 365. 

Mortar, description of, 150. 

Mosby, Col. (Guerilla), 60, 61. 

Mott, Gen., 77, 78, 80, 172. 

Mumford, Thomas T.,Confed. General. 
Order, No. 6, 317, et se</. 

Murdoch, 1st Lieut. Albert M., 261, 
262, 276, 335. 

Murdoch, Cvrus M., 261. 

Napoleon III., 2, 330, 331. 



Newton, Pvt., 38. 

Neville, Pvt. William, Co. A, 230. 

New York, 14th H.A., 205, 207, 208, 
210, 212, 233, 256, 266, 270, 272, 285, 
287,290, 291; 179th Batt. of, 205; 
19th Light Batt., 253; 50th Regt. 
of, 330. 

Ninth Army Corps, 18, 21, 83; posi- 
tion of, in Wilderness, 35 ; position 
of, 87, 125, 141, et seq.; at Fort 
Stedman, 252, et seq.; loss of, 257; 
casualties in, 82. 

North Anna River, Battle of, 95,*e« 
seq. 

North Carolina, 214; 57th Regt. of, 
276. 

Northern Virginia, Army of, position, 
25, et seq.; loss at Spottsylvania, 
S3; strength, 229; position, 247; 
strength, "248 ; 301,302, 309; sur- 
render, 315, 316; casualties, Wilder- 
ness, 47; Cold Harbor, 123. 

Oakes, Sergt. William, Co. F, story 
of Maj. Doherty's death, 259; 293, 
295. 

O'Donnell, Sergt. John, 293, 295. 

O'Donnell, Michael, resolutions death 
of, 364. 

Olin, Hon. W. M., 415. 

O'Neill, John, 409. 

Ord, Gen. Comdg., 18th Corps, 172, 
201. 

Osborne, W. H., Historian 29th Mass., 
219; letter of, 221. 

Palladium, Worcester, extracts from, 
333, 334. 

Park, Corp. Henry L., 366. 

Park, Sergt. William E., 366. 

Parke, Gen. John G., Comdg. 9th A.C., 
230, 241; report of Stedman, 284; 
report of, 286; 298, 308, 303, 305, 
309, 323, 329, 331. 

Parker, David, Pvt., Co. I, 68. 

Parks, Sergt. George H ., 191, 192. 

Pasco, Cephas, resolutions, death of, 
360. 

Peabody, William T., Co. F, death of, 
346. 

Peacock, Lieut. James, 262 ; death of, 
365; 402. 

Pegram, Confed. Gen., Batt. of, 177; 
249. 

Pegram's Farm, 243. 

Pendleton, Confed. Chief of Artillery, 
report of, 316. 

Penland, Pvt., 38. 



510 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT MASS. VOLUNTEERS. 



Pennsylvania, 2d Artillery, Regt. of, 

205,206,208, 209, 210; 100th Regt. 

of, 205, 208, 210, 214, 215, -2:',:: 266, 

269, 270, 271, 272, 27:;, 286, 289, 290, 

21)2, 330; 200th Regt. of. 288; 208th 

Regt. Of, 271, 272. 27.1. 292; 209th 

Regt. of. 288. 
Perry, Pvt. Henry II., Co. K, 230. 
Pentecost, Col., 100th Penn, 266, 289, 

293. 
Pepoon, N., 409. 
Petersburg, 133, et seq., description 

of Con fed. defences of, 134, 135. 136. 
Phillips, Antonio. 57, 58. 
Phillips, Capt. Worces. State Guards, 

262. 
Pickets, description of, 151, 152, 154, 

1 55. 
Pickett, Confed. Gen., division of, 91, 

109; charge at Gettysburg, 338. 
Pickett, Gen. J., 377. ' 
Pike, Pvt., 38. 
Pinkham, Lieut. Charles H. (Bvt. 

Capt.), 27)7; letter of, 274 ; 289, 293, 

2!)7.. 356, 371, 375, 37s, 379. 
Pipson, Pvt., 38. 
Pleasants, Lt.-Col. 48th Penn., 167, 

168, 171. 
Pollard, Losl Cause., quoted, 324, et 

seq., 351 . 
Pope, Gen., 28. 
Poplar Grove Church, battle of, 237, 

et seq. 
Potomac, Armv of, strength and posi- 

t ion of, 26; order of. 29, 126, et seq. ; 

in Wilderness, loss of, 47; loss at 

Spottsylvauia C.H., 83; loss, 110; 

do, 121 : do, L66 : do at Petersburg, 

187 : strength of. 229: do, 248; 301 ; 

morale of, 2:'.'.': position Of, 217; 

loss ai Stedman, 257; 312, 316, 319, 

320, 323. 
Toiler, Brig. < ren comdg. 2d Div. 9th 

A.C, 1 17. 12:,, L37, III. 167, L68, 

171, lso. ins, 216, 225 233, 238, 284, 

306, 308. 
roller, isi Lieut. Edward P., 262, 407. 
Lowell. Lt.-Col. W. II. . quoted in 
■ Bail Les and Leaders <>r i lie Civil 

War," 215; 218, 220. 
I'rie-i . Lieui . i ,, org< I'... 7. 356, 858, 
166, 377, 378, 379; of John II. 

( ook, .".9'.'. 
Prescott, capt. Major") Allien. 89, 18, 

102, 162, 163, 17... 176, L81, 190, 191, 

199, 205, 333, I 



Prison, Libby, 290, 317. 

Prvor, Roger A., 313. 

Randall, Lieut., 4th U.S. Inf., 208, 211: 

Mai. George M., comely. 14th N.Y. 

II. A., 253, 269, 270, 2s."., 287. 
Randol, Col., 360. 
Randolph, Sergt., 100th Penn.. 270, 

271. 
RaDsom, Confederate Gin.. 264, 283, 

288. 
Rathborn, Charles, 409. 
Rathborn, William, 409. 
Raymond, .lames H., resolutions, death 

of, 364. 
Raymond, Maj. E. T , 377. 
Reade, Lieut. Bvt. Capt.) John, 163, 

177.. 
Rebellion Records, casualties in Wil- 
derness, 47; 222; quoted, 225. 
Refreshment Rooms, Cooper. 15, 16, 

17. 
Republic, Grand Army of, Post 10 ; 

391, 392; Lost No. 113, 398. 
Resolutions Confederate Congress, 

194. 195. 
Reunions. Regimental, 355, et seq. 
Richards. Maj. William V.. 291, 293. 
Richardson, Maj. Charles T., 29th 

Mass.. 266, 269, 290. 
Ricochet lire, description of, 137. 
Robinson, Gen. John C, 75. 
Robinson, Col. G. P.. 3d Maryland, 

205 212. 271, 272. 27:;. 289, 291 ; 

report of, 292: 311. 
Lode. Confederate Gen., 1 13, 1 17. 

Roemer, Major, comdg. Led. Battery, 

288. 
Rollins, Pvt., 38. 

Rosser, < 'on fed. ( ':iv.. 302. 

Roster of officers, 1,5,6; 419, et seq : 

enlisted men. 430, 1 1 .-' •/. 

Hover, Lieut . i r.\ t . Major !, I lharles 
11., 37, 38, I"-. 159, L60, 163. 

Rumsey, l'\ I ., 38. 

Salisbury, Hon. Stephen. 367. 

Sanderson, Capt. John \\\. I ; death 
of, 367 ; eulogy, 393, 394. 

Schaffer, George, 109. 

Schneider, Re\ . Benjamin, L45. 

Schneider. Pvt. Edward M., L45, 14C. 
1 17. 

SCOtt, .lesve s.. 402. 

Seddon, Hon. J. A . 97. 
Sedgwick, Gen., 26, 7.'.. 76. 
Shaler, Pvt., 88. 
Shan. l'\ i. George W.. 240. 



511 



Sheridan, Gen., 20, 114, 128, 165, 166, 
172, 800, 304. 

Sherwin, Waldo, 90. 

Shorkley, Capt., 271. 

Shumway, D., 404. 

Sigfried, Col., 180. 

Siea;el, Gen., 91. 

Smith, Gen., 112, 119, 120, 127, 133. 

Smith, Lieut. Green, 207, 209. 

Snow, Capt., 235. 

Souther, 1st Sergt., Co. B, 53, .'.4, 200. 

Soutliey, Pvt., 38. 

Spottsylvania Court House, battle of, 
71-04. 

Sprague, Gen. A. B. R., 377. 

Spy, "Worcester, 56, 57, 108. 

Squares, Pvt. Truman, 89. 

St. Autoine, Pvt. 38. 

Stedman, Fort, Battle of, 251-298. 

Stevens, Charles E., poem, 54. 

Stevenson, Gen., commanding- 1st 
Brig , 1st Div., 9th AC, 35, 36, 79, 
82, 110, 200. 

Stragglers, 405-419. 

Streeter, Pvt., 38. 

Stuart, Confecl. Gen., 75. 

Sturgis, Lieut. Thomas, 57, 269, 290. 

Sumner, E. V., Corps, W.R.C., 87s. 

Swords, Capt. (Bvt.-Major), 287, 290, 
356. 

Taylor, Col., 109. 

Teasjue, John, resolutions, death of, 
365. 

Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brig- 
ade, 338. 

Terry, Confed. Gen., 283. 

Thomas, Col., 180. 

Thompson, W. D., 377. 

Tidball, Col., 225, 267, 272, 285, 872. 

Timon, Charles, resolutions, death of, 
371. 

Towers, Pvt , 38. 

Tribune, The National of Washington, 
prison statistics, 349, 350, 351. 

Tripp, Capt., 29th Mass., 206. 

Trussell, Augustus J., death of, 366. 

Tucker, Lieut.-Col. J. M., 67, 107, 110, 
111, 138. 145, 149, 163, 233, 258, 266, 
275; report of , 294; 299, 329; reso- 
lutions, death of, 356 ; eulogy of, 
381, 382. 

Tufts, Col., Mass. State Agent, 193. 

Turner, Maj. Dick (Confed".), 279, 280. 

Upton, Gen., 78, 80. 

Union dead at Columbia, S.C., 350, 
351. 



Venable, Col. (Confed.), 109. 

Valley Gleaner, of Lee, quoted, 396, 
397. 

Vocell, James, 409. 

Wade, U.S. Senator, 202. 

Wadsworth, Gen., 36, 40, 41. 

Walker, Lt.-Col., 52d Va., 118. 

Walker, Rev. E. A., 14. 

Walters, Sergt. Jack, 208. 

Walton, Edward A., 108. 

Walton, Gilderoy and Dollv, 108. 

Ward, Capt. H. C, 37, 38, 93; account 
of Port Stedman, 277. 280; letters 
of, 281, 282. 

Warren, Adjt., 204. 

Warren. Geii. G. K., 20, S:^ 75, 78, 80, 
81, 90, 96, 109, 119, 126, 127, 129, 
136, 171, 172, 235, 248. 

Wayland, Francis, 20. 

Weiseger, Gen. (Confed.), 187. 

Weitzel, Gen., 322. 

Welch, James, resolutions, death of, 
359. 

Weld, Col., 56th Mass., 206. 

Weldon Railroad, Battle of, 228-237 ; 
casualties of, 231. 

Wellman, Frank, 360. 

Wellman, George, 364. 

Westwood, 146," 147. 

Whipple, W. H., 378, 379, 380. 

White, Gen., commanding Brig, and 
Div., 9th A.C., 171,229, 233, 234, 
235. 

White, George, 410. 

White, Surg. W. V., 59, 73, 146; let- 
ter of, 234; 320, 367, 375, 378; letter 
on organization, 408, et seq. 

Whittier. John Greenleaf, poem by, 
389, 390. 

Wilcox, Gen., commanding 3d Div., 
9th AC, 35, 82, 117,141,174, 180, 
197, 198, 217, 231, 233, 238, 247, 252, 
284, 285; report of Fort Stedman, 
287, 288, 289; 302, 306, 309, 311, 
324, 329, 332. 

Wilderness, Battle of, 23-69. 

Willard, Pvt. George W., 38, 231. 

Williams, Weslev R., 277, 298, 295. 

Willis, Col., 12th Georgia, 113. 

Wilson, Gen. J. H., 125, 126, 172. 

Wilson, Pvt., 38. 

Winder, Gen. (Confed.), 352. 

Wisconsin, 2d Regt. of los>, 335. 

Wise, Gen. (Confed.), 133. 

Woodbury, Augustus, Historian 9th 
A.C., 170; quoted, 288. 



512 



FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT Mass. VOLUNTEERS. 



Woodcock, Isaac A., resolutions, death 

of, 371. 
Wool. Camp John E., 4, 14. 15, 49,409. 
Worthy. Corp. William, 242. 
Wounded, Wilderness, 63, G4. 
Wright, Gen. (6th A.C.), 77, 80, 81, 

119, 120, 127. 



Wright, Gen. (Confed.), 187. 
Wurtz, Capt. (Confed. at Anderson- 

ville), 34."). 
Young, Charles E., 366. 
Youngmau, John C, A.A.-G., 9th A.C., 

306. 



ERRATA 



Line 13, page 143 : The paragraph should read as follows : 
"The number of killed alone, including otlicers, was eighty-four, 
I icing nearly ten per cent. Of the one hundred and eighty it 
took into the battle of Petersburg, June 17th, one officer, Lieut. 
Edwin I. Coe, and ten enlisted men were killed." 

Page 162 : McLaughlin should be spelled McLaughlen. 

Page 200 : Southey should be Souther. 



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